


As the Lily Grows

by MerryLilHobbit



Series: Life at the Hotel Transylvania [3]
Category: Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Genre: Accelerated Aging, Early Death, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 06:49:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 41,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5038051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerryLilHobbit/pseuds/MerryLilHobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after "Unfair". Johnny and Mavis' family have to deal with the newest addition being human; not just that, but their other kids are growing up too. Johnny/Mavis. I suggest reading "A-Z of a Life" and "Unfair" first. *Taking requests for one-shots!*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Early Starts

"Wow... Mommy, is she tiny? Was I tiny too?... Hey, Lu! I can't see! Move your butt!"

"Mina, be quiet. You might wake her up."

"Hey, don't tell me to be quiet! Mommy, Daddy, Jack told me to be quiet!"

"Well, be quiet!"

"Lu! You're not my Mom, so you can't tell me either!"

"Look, if any of you wake her up then you won't be allowed to Grandpa's hotel next month!"

The three children stared at Mavis in horror.

"But Mom-"

"Mommy-"

"Come on guys, no fighting: Mommy's real tired after having the baby," Johnny interrupted, putting an arm around the three of them. "You need to be really nice to her and not argue - besides, you can't wake Lily up, can you?"

Mina shook her head while Jack and Lucy just sighed. "I guess not," Jack admitted grudgingly - but as he peered at the baby his eyes still lit up with undisguised interest. "She _does_ look rather tiny, Dad - I'm pretty sure Mina wasn't that small when she was born."

"Maybe she's just small," Johnny suggested, grinning down at his youngest child. "Aren't you, Lily?"

Lily made no movements, continuing to stare up at them with wide eyes. By now her eyes had turned a dark shade of chocolate brown - presumably from Johnny's side of the family - and there was no doubting which parent she was taking after physically at the moment.

Lucy made a cooing noise. "Oh, she's so cute...I want one..."

Mavis sent her a rather sharp look. "Not yet you don't."

"What's it like?" Jack asked suddenly, giving his father a curious look. "Having a baby that's...human. Surely you and Mom are...I mean, she's going to grow up quickly-"

"Yeah," The red-haired man agreed, not looking up from the baby. "It is. To be honest, though, she's not much different from you guys - we're not thinking about the future yet, you know?"

Mina gave an annoyed sound and it was only then that Johnny realized she was still too short to get a proper look at the baby. Laughing, he picked her up in his arms so that she would have a good view and held her close to him; after everything that had been happening lately, he wanted nothing more than to keep his family close to him.

"Oh, wow!" Mina exclaimed, beaming down at the baby. "She doesn't look so squishy anymore!"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Squishy?"

She nodded seriously. "Yeah! A few days ago her face was all weird and she looked like a toy that you can squeeze - now she looks like an actual baby!"

Lucy and Jack sent each other looks of amusement and dismay, clearly not sure what to say about this description of their youngest sister.

"Anyway," Lucy started, deciding a change in subject was needed. "You guys should get some sleep, shouldn't you? I mean, I'm sure we can handle looking after Lily for a few hours while you guys get some rest."

Mavis raised an eyebrow at her eldest daughter. "As much as I love you three... _Yeah. Right_. As if I'm leaving you three in charge of a new-born baby."

All three of the children looked quite offended by such a comment but didn't argue any further. "Fine," Lucy relented defeatedly. "But you guys still need to sleep - I mean, if Lily needs you then I'm sure she'll let you know."

_Oh._ Johnny and Mavis both grimaced at that thought.

* * *

When Jack woke up the next morning, the first thing he heard was yelling.

"Oh for..." He pushed himself out of bed and stormed out into the hallway: his parents were standing there, both looking rather angry - Jack could only guess that they had been arguing or something. "Hello?!" He snapped tiredly. "I thought you guys were done arguing!"

"We are," Johnny said, looking rather annoyed.

"We're not," Mavis agreed, rolling her eyes as she held a gurgling Lily against her chest. "But your Dad is-"

At that moment, Lucy stormed out into the hallway, giving her parents rather harsh glares. "Look, I don't care what you guys say!" She announced, pulling on a jumper as she left her bedroom. "He's my boyfriend, and if I want to go and see him then I will!"

_Oh for God's sake._

"This is about seeing Freddie?" Jack asked in disbelief, not quite sure whose side he was on. "Really?"

Johnny gave an annoyed sigh. "Lu, for the last time: you saw him a couple of nights ago! You don't need to see him every minute of the day!"

Lucy turned her nose up at him, folding her arms stubbornly. "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry that I wanted to go and see my _zing_ tonight. Besides, you were actually okay with it until I told you we were having dinner together later on."

Mavis and Jack just had to look at each other to realize that they were having the same thoughts.

"You're only a hundred and four," The red-haired man mumbled loudly. "I just don't think that it's right for you and him to go out yet, seeing as he's a hundred and thirty-"

"Oh, that's rich coming from you!" Lucy snarled viciously. "There are _ninenty seven_ years between you and Mom - twenty six is practically nothing compared to that!"

Johnny opened his mouth before closing it again, speechless by this. Finally, he straightened up and gave her a hard look. "You're _not_ going to the hotel to see him, and that's that."

The eldest child gave a loud noise of anger. "This is so unfair!" She practically screeched - this resulted in Lily starting to wail again against Mavis' chest. "You used to be so fun and stuff, Dad, but now...now you're turning into a giant _dick_!"

Jack's mouth fell open, and Mavis gave a gasp of shock. "Lucy Martha!" She scolded, quite outraged. "You know what, I _was_ going to try and convince your Dad to let you go but after that you can stay home tonight."

"Fine," The red-haired girl muttered, storming back into her bedroom; she slammed the door behind her, and they could soon hear her crying.

Jack looked between his parents, not quite sure what to say. "You know, Dad, I don't see why you couldn't have just let her go."

"He's older than her," Johnny stated, almost delirious with rage. "I mean...he could...she's so young still...what if..."

Mavis tutted him, shaking her head and sending him a pointed look. "They're _zings_ , Johnny: Freddie wouldn't hurt her at all."

"Yeah, and Freddie wouldn't hurt _anyone_ ," Jack agreed, nodding in agreement. "Let alone Lu."

Johnny looked as if he was going to argue back, but after a few seconds he slumped on the spot and rubbed at the back of his neck guiltily. "I dunno... I just don't want her getting hurt or anything."

_Well, this is where I should be going so that they can talk privately._ Jack coughed awkwardly. "I'm going to go and get dressed," He decided, making sure to be loud so that his parents would hear him.

When he had gone, Johnny and Mavis just looked at each other.

"I don't want her getting hurt," Johnny repeated defensively.

Mavis sent him a small smile. "I know. Neither do I. But I trust him - he reminds me of you, actually, what with how clumsy and adorable he is around her." She put her free hand on his arm. "Johnny, by not letting her go you're kind of just doing the same thing that my Dad did to me when we met."

"Why are you always right?" Her husband muttered, but he gave a nod. "Fine. I'll give her a minute, though, so that she calms down."

"Great," Mavis told him, shifting Lily in her arms. "Look, I need to go for a shower; while you wait for Lu to calm down, could you make feed Lily? I have no idea what human babies eat anyway, so..."

He grinned at her, taking the baby off of her. "Don't worry about it: you'll get there eventually."

* * *

Mina frowned as she looked at Lily, who was currently being fed by Johnny.

"She doesn't do a lot," She muttered to Johnny and Mavis from where she was lying on the floor, staring up at them with bored eyes. "I thought babies were cute and played games."

"They do," Mavis assured her, a small laugh threatening to escape from her as she took in her daughter's confused face. "But you have to wait until they get older."

"Oh." Mina blew a stray piece of hair away from her face. "When can she play then?"

Mavis looked at Johnny - after all, he was the ex-human and therefore more qualified to answer that question. "Only about a year," He guessed. "I dunno, really...been a long while since I was around human kids."

The dark-haired girl gazed at the baby intensely, waiting until she'd finished her bottle to speak again. "Can I hold her then, Daddy? I'll be really careful, I promise!"

Johnny looked to Mavis, seeing what she thought: she just smiled and gave a nod. "Alright," He agreed, and Mina jumped up to sit on the couch next to them. "So, just move your arms like that...see, you've gotta support her head like that, or it'll flop... There we go!"

Mina could only look down at her little sister with wide eyes, somewhat transfixed by the very thought that she was actually holding a _real_ baby (as opposed to a doll or toy, of course). "Daddy? Can I say something to her?"

When he nodded, Mina cleared her throat and looked down at Lily again. "Hey," She greeted, voice suddenly tiny in comparison to her usual hyperactive one. "So, you don't really know me and I don't really know you... In fact, at the minute you're kinda boring. But Mommy and Daddy say that one day you'll be more fun. Anyway, I guess what I really wanted to say was...well..." She bit her lip, leaning down closer to whisper to her sister. "I know that you're gonna be human, so you're gonna be weaker than the rest of us. But don't worry, 'cause I'll make sure that none of the mean kids at the hotel pick on you when we go."

Lily gazed up at her with wide eyes and, if Mina didn't know any better, then she would have believed that her little sister was saying 'thank you' in her own way.

 


	2. Words

"Wow... Mommy, is she tiny? Was I tiny too?... Hey, Lu! I can't see! Move your butt!"

"Mina, be quiet. You might wake her up."

"Hey, don't tell me to be quiet! Mommy, Daddy, Jack told me to be quiet!"

"Well, be quiet!"

"Lu! You're not my Mom, so you can't tell me either!"

"Look, if any of you wake her up then you won't be allowed to Grandpa's hotel next month!"

The three children stared at Mavis in horror.

"But Mom-"

"Mommy-"

"Come on guys, no fighting: Mommy's real tired after having the baby," Johnny interrupted, putting an arm around the three of them. "You need to be really nice to her and not argue - besides, you can't wake Lily up, can you?"

Mina shook her head while Jack and Lucy just sighed. "I guess not," Jack admitted grudgingly - but as he peered at the baby his eyes still lit up with undisguised interest. "She _does_ look rather tiny, Dad - I'm pretty sure Mina wasn't that small when she was born."

"Maybe she's just small," Johnny suggested, grinning down at his youngest child. "Aren't you, Lily?"

Lily made no movements, continuing to stare up at them with wide eyes. By now her eyes had turned a dark shade of chocolate brown - presumably from Johnny's side of the family - and there was no doubting which parent she was taking after physically at the moment.

Lucy made a cooing noise. "Oh, she's so cute...I want one..."

Mavis sent her a rather sharp look. "Not yet you don't."

"What's it like?" Jack asked suddenly, giving his father a curious look. "Having a baby that's...human. Surely you and Mom are...I mean, she's going to grow up quickly-"

"Yeah," The red-haired man agreed, not looking up from the baby. "It is. To be honest, though, she's not much different from you guys - we're not thinking about the future yet, you know?"

Mina gave an annoyed sound and it was only then that Johnny realized she was still too short to get a proper look at the baby. Laughing, he picked her up in his arms so that she would have a good view and held her close to him; after everything that had been happening lately, he wanted nothing more than to keep his family close to him.

"Oh, wow!" Mina exclaimed, beaming down at the baby. "She doesn't look so squishy anymore!"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Squishy?"

She nodded seriously. "Yeah! A few days ago her face was all weird and she looked like a toy that you can squeeze - now she looks like an actual baby!"

Lucy and Jack sent each other looks of amusement and dismay, clearly not sure what to say about this description of their youngest sister.

"Anyway," Lucy started, deciding a change in subject was needed. "You guys should get some sleep, shouldn't you? I mean, I'm sure we can handle looking after Lily for a few hours while you guys get some rest."

Mavis raised an eyebrow at her eldest daughter. "As much as I love you three... _Yeah. Right_. As if I'm leaving you three in charge of a new-born baby."

All three of the children looked quite offended by such a comment but didn't argue any further. "Fine," Lucy relented defeatedly. "But you guys still need to sleep - I mean, if Lily needs you then I'm sure she'll let you know."

 _Oh._ Johnny and Mavis both grimaced at that thought.

* * *

When Jack woke up the next morning, the first thing he heard was yelling.

"Oh for..." He pushed himself out of bed and stormed out into the hallway: his parents were standing there, both looking rather angry - Jack could only guess that they had been arguing or something. "Hello?!" He snapped tiredly. "I thought you guys were done arguing!"

"We are," Johnny said, looking rather annoyed.

"We're not," Mavis agreed, rolling her eyes as she held a gurgling Lily against her chest. "But your Dad is-"

At that moment, Lucy stormed out into the hallway, giving her parents rather harsh glares. "Look, I don't care what you guys say!" She announced, pulling on a jumper as she left her bedroom. "He's my boyfriend, and if I want to go and see him then I will!"

_Oh for God's sake._

"This is about seeing Freddie?" Jack asked in disbelief, not quite sure whose side he was on. "Really?"

Johnny gave an annoyed sigh. "Lu, for the last time: you saw him a couple of nights ago! You don't need to see him every minute of the day!"

Lucy turned her nose up at him, folding her arms stubbornly. "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry that I wanted to go and see my _zing_ tonight. Besides, you were actually okay with it until I told you we were having dinner together later on."

Mavis and Jack just had to look at each other to realize that they were having the same thoughts.

"You're only a hundred and four," The red-haired man mumbled loudly. "I just don't think that it's right for you and him to go out yet, seeing as he's a hundred and thirty-"

"Oh, that's rich coming from you!" Lucy snarled viciously. "There are _ninenty seven_ years between you and Mom - twenty six is practically nothing compared to that!"

Johnny opened his mouth before closing it again, speechless by this. Finally, he straightened up and gave her a hard look. "You're _not_ going to the hotel to see him, and that's that."

The eldest child gave a loud noise of anger. "This is so unfair!" She practically screeched - this resulted in Lily starting to wail again against Mavis' chest. "You used to be so fun and stuff, Dad, but now...now you're turning into a giant _dick_!"

Jack's mouth fell open, and Mavis gave a gasp of shock. "Lucy Martha!" She scolded, quite outraged. "You know what, I _was_ going to try and convince your Dad to let you go but after that you can stay home tonight."

"Fine," The red-haired girl muttered, storming back into her bedroom; she slammed the door behind her, and they could soon hear her crying.

Jack looked between his parents, not quite sure what to say. "You know, Dad, I don't see why you couldn't have just let her go."

"He's older than her," Johnny stated, almost delirious with rage. "I mean...he could...she's so young still...what if..."

Mavis tutted him, shaking her head and sending him a pointed look. "They're _zings_ , Johnny: Freddie wouldn't hurt her at all."

"Yeah, and Freddie wouldn't hurt _anyone_ ," Jack agreed, nodding in agreement. "Let alone Lu."

Johnny looked as if he was going to argue back, but after a few seconds he slumped on the spot and rubbed at the back of his neck guiltily. "I dunno... I just don't want her getting hurt or anything."

 _Well, this is where I should be going so that they can talk privately._ Jack coughed awkwardly. "I'm going to go and get dressed," He decided, making sure to be loud so that his parents would hear him.

When he had gone, Johnny and Mavis just looked at each other.

"I don't want her getting hurt," Johnny repeated defensively.

Mavis sent him a small smile. "I know. Neither do I. But I trust him - he reminds me of you, actually, what with how clumsy and adorable he is around her." She put her free hand on his arm. "Johnny, by not letting her go you're kind of just doing the same thing that my Dad did to me when we met."

"Why are you always right?" Her husband muttered, but he gave a nod. "Fine. I'll give her a minute, though, so that she calms down."

"Great," Mavis told him, shifting Lily in her arms. "Look, I need to go for a shower; while you wait for Lu to calm down, could you make feed Lily? I have no idea what human babies eat anyway, so..."

He grinned at her, taking the baby off of her. "Don't worry about it: you'll get there eventually."

* * *

Mina frowned as she looked at Lily, who was currently being fed by Johnny.

"She doesn't do a lot," She muttered to Johnny and Mavis from where she was lying on the floor, staring up at them with bored eyes. "I thought babies were cute and played games."

"They do," Mavis assured her, a small laugh threatening to escape from her as she took in her daughter's confused face. "But you have to wait until they get older."

"Oh." Mina blew a stray piece of hair away from her face. "When can she play then?"

Mavis looked at Johnny - after all, he was the ex-human and therefore more qualified to answer that question. "Only about a year," He guessed. "I dunno, really...been a long while since I was around human kids."

The dark-haired girl gazed at the baby intensely, waiting until she'd finished her bottle to speak again. "Can I hold her then, Daddy? I'll be really careful, I promise!"

Johnny looked to Mavis, seeing what she thought: she just smiled and gave a nod. "Alright," He agreed, and Mina jumped up to sit on the couch next to them. "So, just move your arms like that...see, you've gotta support her head like that, or it'll flop... There we go!"

Mina could only look down at her little sister with wide eyes, somewhat transfixed by the very thought that she was actually holding a _real_ baby (as opposed to a doll or toy, of course). "Daddy? Can I say something to her?"

When he nodded, Mina cleared her throat and looked down at Lily again. "Hey," She greeted, voice suddenly tiny in comparison to her usual hyperactive one. "So, you don't really know me and I don't really know you... In fact, at the minute you're kinda boring. But Mommy and Daddy say that one day you'll be more fun. Anyway, I guess what I really wanted to say was...well..." She bit her lip, leaning down closer to whisper to her sister. "I know that you're gonna be human, so you're gonna be weaker than the rest of us. But don't worry, 'cause I'll make sure that none of the mean kids at the hotel pick on you when we go."

Lily gazed up at her with wide eyes and, if Mina didn't know any better, then she would have believed that her little sister was saying 'thank you' in her own way.


	3. The Education Question

Education Questions

Over the years, as their children had grown up, Johnny and Mavis had of course been faced with the issue of how to educate their kids. For one thing, Lucy had always been bright, picking up on walking and talking earlier than an average baby vampire, so it was clear she would benefit from some form of education. Jack, of course, had been enamoured by books ever since Dracula read him a story about a little vampire who went exploring - teaching him how to read by himself was nothing but bliss to their son.

As for Mina...well, they were still currently trying to teach her some more difficult words and basic skills that she'd need in life, but she was still pretty intelligent too (a grandchild of Dracula's couldn't not be).

At first Johnny and Mavis had assumed that Lily would be taught the same way; at home and with Dracula's help. However, a few days after the human child's fifth birthday a monster guest mused on the idea that because Lily was human it would be quite possible for her to attend a human school too.

"Oh, hell no," Johnny disagreed when Mavis questioned him about it. "For one thing, I went to school in the human world and the other kids are awful; they pick on everyone and steal lunch money."

Mavis sighed. "Well, it's just that it would be ideal, you know? She'd only be gone while we're asleep-"

"Yeah, and asleep when we're all awake," Johnny added. "We haven't sent any of the other three to human school - mainly because they're _not_ human, I guess - and they're still quite smart, right?"

"Yes, of course," The vampiress agreed, nodding her head. "But think about how much Lily would be able to learn at a human school: she'd learn to read and write...and she'd make friends who are like her as well."

The red-head thought about it and gave a nod. "Okay, yeah, there is that. But... But human schools always have, like, these Parents Evenings." When Mavis looked at him, confused, he elaborated. "It's basically when parents get called into the school to talk about their kids and how well they're doing."

"Oh," Mavis sighed, seeing his point. "That's true - how are we meant to go to those when we can't even go out during the day?"

For a few nights, that issue seemed to have been settled: there was no way that the child of two vampires could go to a human school, especially if she was going to start talking about her "Grandpa Dracula's hotel for monsters", as she put it.

It was only when Lucy and Jack heard about this possibility that they intervened with their parents' choice.

"Dad," Jack said seriously. "All I'm saying is that if she goes to a school for humans she'll learn so much more in so much less time - she'll get to learn about science and cells and... And we have to let her have that chance!"

Lucy made a noise of agreement, giving her mother a rather beady eye. "Totally: look, as much as we love Lily and she's our sister, she's still human. She's different from us and she actually has a chance of getting taught properly - no offence to you guys or Grandpa."

"But-"

"No 'but's, Mom," Jack interrupted. "Look, we get it: 'it's too dangerous'...'she might blow our cover'... But, really, who's going to believe her if she says that her family are all vampires?"

Lucy snorted. "Yeah. Who'll believe her, guys, if she went around saying that her Grandpa was _the_ Count Dracula?"

The two of them did, admittedly, raise rather good points: so good, in fact, that it opened up the whole issue again.

"There's a human village just outside the forest," Johnny stated one morning after the kids had all gone to bed. "I know there is, 'cause Lu used to fly out there every night when she thought we didn't know. There's gotta be a human school or something there."

"Even if there is, surely it would be best to check it out first," Mavis reminded him - and then realized she had remembered another possible error in this plan. "Let me guess: human schools definitely don't open after dark for us to look around."

Johnny groaned, face-palming himself. "No. God, it's been so long since I went to school...all I know was that it was awkward and a total waste of time: I mean, all that time I could have been travelling or whatever just... _wasted_."

"But that was 'High School', wasn't it?" His wife asked, trying hard to remember all that she could about what he had told her. "Surely a school for little kids like her wouldn't be so bad: it's just to make sure she can read and write." She straightened up, voice suddenly firmer and more stubborn. "Lil's a human, and she hasn't...she hasn't got as long as us, Johnny. She should get to experience all that she can, right?"

The red-head blinked at her, shoulders slumping at the mention of just how little time their daughter had in comparison to them, but nodded. "Yeah," He agreed, voice suddenly a lot softer. "She should. You're right: her being human means that she should get to go to human school, I guess, even if it's only for a year or two." He paused, thinking about something. "So, if we _do_ send her to this school, how is it gonna work? We can't take her 'cause of the Sun being out and all that, and there's no way she should have to go alone."

"Well..." Mavis hesitated, not sure if she should say it. "Do you have any relatives? You know, nephews or...something?"

Johnny shrugged, looking rather sullen. "Matt's kids both died a few years ago, James' daughter is in an old folk's home, Daniel didn't have any...and then Chris was paralysed during a football game, so he didn't..." He took a deep breath. "Carl...look, the guy had so many girlfriends that he's probably got a ton of kids that we'll never know about. And Jake..." He sighed. "He...he..."

_He was beaten up for loving the person he did._

"Okay," Mavis said quickly, not wanting him to get upset. "So that's out of the question..."

It only took another half an hour of discussions before they came to the conclusion that it wasn't possible - still, it wasn't too bad, they supposed: Jack was a fantastic teacher.

* * *

Jack, being the most studious of the older siblings, often took the lead role in helping Lily with her reading and writing skills; at first it had been quite tedious, considering how slow she learnt at first. But now, when she was five, she seemed slightly keener and sharper, picking up his tips easily.

That night was a much more fun lesson, seeing as it was nearly the weekend, and so Jack was sat at the kitchen table with Lily: he held up a card with a word written on it and studied his little sister's face.

Lily beamed, gaps showing in her teeth. "That's 'rabbit'... Like in Wonderland!"

"Yup!" Jack agreed, picking up another card. "Okay then... How do you spell 'dinner'?"

She rolled her eyes impatiently. "Jack, that's too easy!... But it's D...I...N...N...E...R...at least, I think it is..."

"Yes," Jack told her, putting the card away and grinning. "But you weren't sure, so it was a great idea to check."

Lily shook her head at him, some of her sass showing through: the term, 'red heads have short tempers' applied to her on many levels. "How come you get to ask all of the questions?" She complained. "I have questions too, you know: I bet that you can't answer them, though."

"A challenge," Her older brother laughed, leaning forwards and giving her a confident smirk. "Alright, fine: give it to me."

Lily smiled mischievously. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

 _Oh, for God's sake..._ "Lils, that's a riddle from a fantasy book," He informed her. "It's not got an answer: even the Hatter himself didn't know. How the heck am _I_ meant to know?"

"'Cause you said that you're the smartest," Lily stated, looking pleased to have asked a question her brother didn't know the answer to. "And...well, it was kinda bugging me. I mean, what does it mean?!"

"I don't know," Jack admitted honestly, patting her hand with his. "But here's a tip: don't ask me anymore questions related to _Alice in Wonderland_ because I won't know the answer at all."

Math was a slightly harder subject to teach: by this time, though, Jack had successfully managed to get his sister to add simple sums and count from one to a hundred (although, she did get rather confused after eighty sometimes still). All in all, it seemed that she was learning just fine.

Well, apart from the odd question here and there that threw everyone off for a second or two.

"Mommy?" Lily asked innocently one evening when she was helping set the table for dinner. "Can I ask you something?"

Mavis sent her a smile and nodded. "Of course: you know you can ask me anything."

"Okay..." Lily took a deep breath, gazing up at her mother with wide eyes. "You know Jack and Lucy teach me sometimes? Like...reading and stuff?" When her mother nodded, she continued. "Well, could I...I mean, I love learning with them and stuff, and I love learning reading and sums...But could I learn something else too?"

The dark-haired vampire shrugged, curious as to what her daughter was going on about. "I...I suppose it depends on what it is-"

"I want to do dance lessons," Lily announced immediately. "Like what the pretty girls in magazines do: the thing where they're in those dressy-skirt things that are pink." She looked up hopefully, the picture of adorable. "Can I, Mommy? Please?!"

Okay, so this admittedly shouldn't have thrown Mavis off as much as it did - considering how the girl danced around the living room and her bedroom all the time, it should have been no surprise: no, it was just thinking of planning it out somehow that threw her off. Not wanting to promise anything or crush any dreams, Mavis said the only thing that could pass as an excuse.

"Let me talk to your Dad."


	4. Petite Danseuse

"Jack, have you seen your sister?"

Jack didn't even need to look up from his novel. "Front room, dancing in front of the television - probably pretending to be a ballerina or a back-up dancer for some human popstar."

Mavis smiled, shaking her head to herself. "Well, I guess I should have known that - she never does anything else." She left the kitchen and headed to the front room; of course, her youngest daughter was doing just as they had predicted.

This time, Lily was a ballerina - she was on the very tips of her toes, arms lifted above her head gracefully in concentration, and a most serious look painted across her face, almost as if she were performing a play. "One two three...one two three..." That was when she dropped from her toes and dipped into a bow in front of the television, as if thanking an invisible audience.

"That was pretty good," Mavis told her, grinning when the red-haired girl just looked over her shoulder in horror and shock. "Very graceful - Grandpa would definitely approve."

"You weren't meant to see that, Mommy!" But then Lily paused, thinking hard for a few moments. "Was I really good? I was trying to do the moves that the pretty women do on TV, but I can't do the thing on my toes just yet."

"It looked fine," Her mother assured her, giving her hair a quick ruffle as she passed. "You know, we might be able to make a famous dancer of you yet."

Lily's eyes lit up in undisguised excitement. "Really?!" She started bouncing up and down on the spot, her red curls bobbing along with her. "I would love to dance all he time, and do shows and...and..." She stopped, frowning to herself suddenly. "But I can't, Mommy."

"And why not?" Mavis asked, although she knew where this was going.

"'Cause I'd need lessons first," Lily replied, as if it were obvious. "I need to make sure I do it the right way, or I won't be as good."

The dance lessons were still being considered; after all, sending their child to a dance class during the day when they were meant to be asleep posed a slight problem. Of course, despite this, Mavis and Johnny had both been looking into it - apparently, humans weren't the only ones who danced. Quite a few monsters who had stayed at the hotel had confessed about various dance teachers all over the monster world - then again, if it was a different country that the teacher lived in...

"We'll think about it," Mavis promised, bending down and kissing the top of Lily's head. "Come on; lunch is nearly ready."

* * *

A month or so passed before the issue came up again - and in the most inconvenient place.

"You promised, Mommy!" Lily stated, causing a few monsters in the hotel lobby to turn and stare at them. "You said that you and Daddy would look for dance classes but you haven't."

Johnny blinked, trying to avoid the looks they were receiving. "We have, Lils, but it's gonna take a while...I mean, what with everything going on at the minute..."

"You mean 'cause I'm a human?" Lily questioned, sticking her head up high and sniffing. "Is that why I can't?"

"Of course not," Mavis told her, trying to steer her out of the lobby - this conversation would have been better carried on in the privacy of a hotel room. "Besides, we've been looking and looking - you've just got to be patient, sweetie."

Lily huffed but followed her family anyway. "Lucy gets to be with Freddie, and Jack gets to read all the time...and Mina plays hotel manager all the time; I just want to be able to dance. It's only fair." Well, it was to _her_ anyway.

* * *

It was a quiet night when Lily found herself in the hotel lobby, spinning around in a pretend-pirouette, head thrown back as she pretended to dance a proper ballet; she'd seen so many on the television that she had started trying to copy them. Her favourite was _Swan Lake_ , and so she was pretending at that moment to be the white swan (the good one, as she thought in her head).

Usually she didn't dance without some kind of music playing, but in that moment she was making do without it; she knew most of the music anyway, so she just tried to imagine it in her head.

 _I also don't dance in front of people_ , she thought absent-mindedly - then again, there weren't many people in the lobby, only a few clueless zombies or old gremlins who couldn't have cared less. It was good enough for her, so she had decided to go ahead and practice.

One of the main reasons she wanted to practice in the lobby was because of how spacious it was; while she loved her room at the hotel, it just wasn't big enough for her to practice her favourite routines in - that, and she needed to be away from her family to think.

She wasn't stupid - she understood that dance lessons weren't going to immediately appear, and nor would they be easy when she started them...But she just _wanted_ it so badly that it hurt. In truth, Lily was finally understanding what Jack had meant when he'd described his fascination with books to her.

 _"It's hard to explain really... I guess I just like the idea that there's stories to tell, things that you can imagine with your own head. I mean, a TV is great and all but they give you the image of what a person looks like...with a book, you can kind of imagine it for yourself. I like seeing stories and maybe...I dunno,,,coming up with my own would be cool too._ "

Dancing wasn't really too different - well, apart from the physical image part - but it was still telling a story, and she loved it. Plus, she loved how happy she would feel after doing it; healthy and happy, like she was going to explode.

_Hmm. Well, I can still dance without lessons - the more I do the better, right?_

Lifting herself up on her toes and spinning around, she closed her eyes and imagined performing in front of a crowd of people - she'd be better in the future, of course, so she wasn't as nervous in her head - before dipping into a finishing position, arms poised gracefully over her head.

"Oh, très bonne!"

Lily jumped, nearly falling over as her eyes swivelled around to see who had just spoken; a tall monster - a nymph, if she was correct - was watching her, hands clapped together with the smallest hint of a smile on her face.

"That was very good, petite fille," The nymph continued, moving her hands behind her back and standing up straight. " _Quel âge avez-vous_?" When Lily just blinked, she elaborated. "How many years are you?"

 _Oh._ "Five," Lily replied nervously, bowing her head slightly - something told her that this woman was a strict authority figure of some kind.

The nymph raised an eyebrow. " _Pardon?_ Did you say 'five' as in cinq? But you...you look..."

"I'm human," She explained, hoping that this monster wouldn't run away on her like some had in the past. "My mommy and daddy are monsters - so are my sisters and brother - but I'm not...My grandpa owns this hotel."

The adult monster just took in the child with a beady eye for a moment, as if checking for something. "I see. And your name?"

"Lily, Miss."

The monster nodded. "Lily. _C'est très belle._ Tell me, Lily, how long have you been dancing for? Which _professeur_ do you study under?"

"I...I don't," The red-head admitted. "I've been dancing since I can remember; I just copy things off the TV and stuff. I don't have a teacher."

The nymph raised an eyebrow, as if unsure to believe this. "Hmm... _D'accord. Enfant_ , where are your parents? May I speak to them?"

 _Oh no. I'm in trouble now._ Still, she was honest if anything, so she told the older woman. "In their room - it's Room 174."

"Come with me," The nymph said, putting a hand on Lily's back. "We have much to discuss."

* * *

Johnny grinned, dodging when Mavis threw a pillow at his head. "What?! Would you rather I lied to you, Mavy?"

"Yes," Mavis said primly. "I would. You know, when a lady asks if she looks a day over a hundred and twenty you tell her _no, of course not_... Not, 'well, duh!'."

The red-haired man just smiled even more. "I was only kidding! God...fine," He relented, deeming it safe to move closer to his wife. "You don't look a day over a hundred and eighteen - just like the night we met."

Mavis raised an eyebrow at him. "You're lying."

"Geesh, I can't win!"

There was a knock at the door, and Mavis sent him a look. "For insulting me and my looks, you can get that."

"But what if it's a beautiful lady monster intent on stealing me away?" Johnny joked - when the female vampire sent him a harsh glare, he stopped. "Kidding! God, someone's been getting awfully moody.."

When he opened the door, he came face to face with a very beautiful older monster. _Ah crap. I was kidding when I said that._ After a moment, Johnny also realized that their youngest daughter was standing with this monster, and he immediately assumed that she was in trouble of some kind.

"I'm real sorry if she disturbed you," He muttered, beckoning Lily to come inside. "But kids will be kids, right?"

The nymph monster looked unamused. "Non, Monsieur. Your daughter has not disturbed me in any way. May I come in and speak with you and your wife?"

Johnny blinked, not quite sure. "Uhm...yeah, I guess so..."

Mavis looked up at her daughter and the nymph monster entered the room; she sent Johnny a confused look, not sure what to think, and he returned it - clearly they were both utterly clueless as to where this conversation was heading.

"You are Lily's _parents_ , oui?" The nymph asked, waiting until they had both nodded to continue. "If I may, I would like to discuss _la petite fille_ and her dancing."

"Of course," Mavis agreed. "I'd offer to give you a seat, but...well...this _is_ a hotel room after all..."

The nymph ignored this. "I am Madame Marie Bellemont. This evening, I noticed your daughter in the lobby downstairs...she likes to dance, oui?" They both nodded again. "Well, for the past two hundred years I have educated _jeunes enfants_ in the art of dance and performance at my school in Paris - some of my pupils have gone on to become professional teachers themselves and entertainers in theatres around the world."

It didn't escape Johnny and Mavis' notice that Lily's eyes lit up at this, clearly excited. "I see," Mavis said slowly, giving her husband a look - if this was going the way they thought it was going...

"Now, I have recently retired," Madame Bellemont stated. "I have no ambitions to continue teaching ballet at my school - to see the children I care about fight their way to the top against one another. But tonight, I saw your _fille_ and..." She cleared her throat. "Your daughter is a very talented _danser_ , Madame and Monsieur. Admittedly she has a lot of work to be done, but she _does_ have a raw talent that is rarely seen in _élèves_ so young."

Johnny grinned widely, shooting his daughter a quick wink and thumbs up; she giggled but regained her composure when she realized just whose presence she was in at that current moment.

Mavis, meanwhile, was just nodding and listening intently. "Well, that's great and all but...why come and tell us?"

"I would like to teach your daughter," The older monster announced firmly, and Lily's smile only widened at the thought. "I would train her in classical ballet and any other styles she may wish to learn. It would all be free, I assure you, and I would do my best to make her into a truly remarkable _danseuse._ "

Mavis frowned to herself slightly, somewhat confused. "But...but your school is in France, Madame. I'm sure you can understand that we wouldn't want...and it would be such a big move..."

Johnny nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Look, we get that this is kinda a great thing and all - but we have three other kids, and we wouldn't just be able to move up to France."

Madame Bellemont gave a small laugh. "Oui, so Lily has told me; she _did_ worry when I told her that she would have to move to France, but I can assure you now that this will not be the case." She straightened up. "I _was_ planning on returning to Paris after this week, but I can see that my services are needed here."

"I...well..." Johnny and Mavis looked between the nymph and their daughter; it was clear what their daughter wanted.

Mavis took a deep breath, knowing that there was only one question needed. "Lils, what do you think?"

Immediately Lily was bouncing on the spot excitedly. "I really, really, _really_ want to, Mommy!"

"Your daughter would be the first human I have ever taught," The nymph continued. "And because she would be my only student she will of course be my top priority when it comes to dancing. So?" She looked at the two of them expectantly. "Oui ou Non?"

Honestly? There wasn't even a valid reason to say no - of course they were going to agree! Besides, it made them both happy to see their youngest daughter laugh and start hugging the three adults in celebration when the okay was given.


	5. For the Love of a Zing

Eighteen years was not a long time at all - already Lily was looking like she'd just turned a hundred and eighteen, and it was clear that she was no longer a child. Those around her were extremely aware of how grown up she was, and in what little time it had been, making them all uncomfortable and sentimental around her.

Of course, if they had thought it was bad at eighteen then they had no idea how emotional twenty one would be.

"Holy crap, Lils!" Jack gawped, looking at his 'younger' sister in awe. "You look, like, the same age as Lu! Heh, maybe even older!"

"Gee, thanks," Lily muttered but smiled anyway. "Besides, you're just all jealous because I look older than you do, and therefore _I_ can have a drink if I want to."

Johnny, who happened to be passing at that moment, snorted to himself. "Yeah, I wasn't born yesterday: you're waiting until we're not around to see it, so you can do it in secret like most people. Hey, don't give me that look!" He muttered when Lily just stared at him incredously. "Just because it's your birthday, I'm not going easy on you!"

"You also said that about her getting a boyfriend, Daddy," Mina piped in brightly, although she too looked rather put out. "How come she gets to be big before me? She's only twenty one! I couldn't do anything at twenty one!"

Lily put a hand on her older sister's shoulder, grinning to herself. "Oh, be quiet. You know that I'd love at least another decade of being little again - besides, being big isn't as fun as the others make it sound."

Mina didn't look convinced and crossed her arms across her chest. "Still, I'm still older and I can still boss you around - even if you _do_ look like a grown-up!"

"Of course," The red-head agreed, words coming out instantly - she'd been used to saying it for more than ten years by this point. "Just say the word and I'll do it."

Looking older than all of her siblings was not easy at all; by the time Lily had reached eight she had realized that she was growing up differently to her brother and sisters - that, unlike them, she didn't have fangs or drink blood beaters...or the fact that she was aging quicker. While at first Lily had been quite terrified at the prospect of having to leave the world before all those that she loved, she had come to accept it and find advantages in it.

_At least I don't have to watch everyone die before me, or be stuck at a certain stage in my life for decades._

This wasn't to say that she was looking forward to it - Lord no - but she had just...stopped being scared now. Her Grandpa had taught her that early on, she supposed, by telling stories of her Grandma; at least she had something to look forward to after she was gone.

 _Enough of that,_ Lily scolded herself that evening. _It's my birthday tomorrow night and I want to celebrate all night long._

* * *

"Psst!"

"Mina, shut up!"

"But she won't wake up!"

"Jack, leave her. She's excited... Hey, that didn't mean climb onto her bed!"

There was a giggle and then Lily felt a soft weight on top of her back; judging by what she knew and the snippets of conversation she had just heard, it was Mina who had just decided to use her as a seat.

She gave a loud, rather unlady-like groan. "Get off me now, or I'll do unspeakable things to your bat."

There was a loud gasp. "No you won't! Mommy and Daddy won't let you! And I'm older than you, so...so...so take that!" There was a slap on the red-haired human's shoulder, and she groaned again.

From somewhere across the room, there was the sound of Lucy laughing. "I've never seen someone not want to get up on their birthday so badly."

Lily's eyes snapped open. "Oh! Yeah! I totally forgot!"

Mina gave a giggle as her sister shot up and wrapped her arms around her tightly. "Hey! Let go of me! T-That tickles, Lils!"

"That's what you get for waking me up early on my birthday," She shot back smugly, tickling the vampire everywhere that she could reach. "Consider this revenge for jumping and sitting on me, you monster!"

Mina shrieked with laughter, looking at her older siblings for help. "H-H-Help me, guys...Ahh! S-S-Stop that!"

Jack just smirked, immediately tackling the small vampire and joining in on the torture session. "Nah, you're alright like this," He told her teasingly. "You're not as annoying...and this is pay-back for making me stop reading yesterday to play with you!"

"J-Jack... Ah-haha! Lu! Please he-help!"

Lucy laughed and leaned against the door. "I think I'm alright, thanks."

"Ah, come on!" Lily protested, looking up at her older sister pleadingly. "Just 'cause you're a hundred and twenty-five it doesn't mean that you're too grown-up to help us torture the monkey."

"Hey!"

Lucy's face lit up, and she was clearly thinking about it. Jack rolled his eyes and tutted disapprovingly. "You're getting too soft in your old age, Lu; you couldn't win a tickle battle if you tried."

This had the desired effect that the three of them wanted; in seconds the eldest of the four of them had dashed across the room and started tickling all of her siblings at once, making them back away from her with tears of laughter in their eyes.

_This birthday is gonna be awesome._

* * *

As it had become tradition, a party was thrown for the occasion - and, of course, all of the guests staying had been invited to attend. The music blared so loudly that even those staying their rooms could hear it, and so they appeared downstairs as the night wore on anyway.

"You know, you haven't stopped staring at her all night," Mavis teased as she and Johnny danced, both of them grinning.

Johnny shrugged. "Well...come on! It's weird! I mean...like... _I_ was twenty-one when I came here and now...now _she_ is...and twenty-one is not a long time at all!"

Mavis gave a hollow laugh. "I suppose that's true - both of the things you said are. Twenty-one years have gone by...quickly."

Both of them knew that 'quickly' was definitely an understatement when it was compared to a monster's life span.

"Look, no sad thoughts," Mavis decided, spinning underneath the red-head's arm. "It's a party and we are not getting all sad."

"I guess you're right," Johnny agreed, movements becoming energetic again. "Come on, this is the _best_ song ever - remember, it was one of the ones I first showed you when we started travelling?"

The dark-haired vampire smiled as she reminisced for a moment. "Oh yeah..." Her smile suddenly became quite playful and mischievous. "You know, I have some other memories of that song." When her husband just looked at her, she leaned in closer to him so that their bodies were inches apart. "I remember that time in Rome just after we got engaged; you left your iPod on while we...celebrated."

If Johnny could have blushed anymore then he definitely would have. "Heheh...well... I had _other_ stuff on my mind..."

Meanwhile, Lily had been dancing around with Mina; as Mina was still only a child (a particularly small one at that, thanks to the bone structure and features she inherited from their mother) it wasn't very serious dancing, more or less just bouncing on the spot in circles and laughing wildly.

"How are you not tired yet?" Lily panted, taking a quick break to breathe; despite being a dancer - and having trained for many years at that - she wasn't quite qualified to keep up with vampire speed or stamina. "It's gotta be, like, a hundred degrees in here!"

Mina shrugged, a giggle threatening to escape her lips. "You're just slow!"

 _If I don't stop soon, I'm going to faint._ Lily hurriedly looked around the hall for someone - anyone - to distract her sister... Her eyes lit up when she found the perfect person for the job.

"Hey, look!" Lily shouted, pointing in the direction. Mina spun around to look. "It's Freddie! He must have gotten a break now! Why don't you go and dance with him?"

Mina bit her lip, clearly very much wanting to. "But...but he probably wants to dance with Lu." At this she made a face that made her sister laugh. "Love is gross. I don't ever want to be in love, never ever! I mean, all _they_ do is kiss and hug and hold hands and it's...blegh!" She made a vomiting motion.

"Well, go and say hello before Lucy gets to him," Lily muttered. Her sister gave her a look, lips curving in a sly smile that the human returned. "First come, first serve, right?"

The vampire child nodded, gave a wink, and dashed into the crowd to greet her friend. _Oh, thank God she's gone,_ Lily thought tiredly. _Maybe now I can have a drink or something...hmm. I wonder if the bartender remembered to get something that I can actually drink-_

Her thoughts were cut off when she tripped over somebody's foot - by the looks of it, a huge monster with tentacles that spread out across the floor. Rather ungraciously for a dancer in training, Lily stumbled forwards and bumped into someone.

"Oh shit!" She exclaimed, straightening herself out. "I...I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

The person, a young man, turned around. "Really, it's oka-"

He was cut off as their eyes met and the world stopped.

* * *

"Hey, Mina! Have you seen Lils?"

Mina shrugged, happily tugging on Freddie's curls as he placed her on his shoulders. "I dunno. She sent me over her to talk to Freddie. Hey, Freddie!" She called down to him, and he trained his eyes upwards on her as best as he could. "Is it true that you met the real Loch Ness Monster last week? Was she nice? Or was it a he?"

Freddie grinned. "I have no idea, lil' bat. But I got to serve them for dinner and they were very polite; well, their accent was kinda weird and hard to understand, but..."

Lucy turned to her brother, who was eying up some siren girls dancing a few metres away. When he noticed his older sister, he jumped and hurriedly spun around to look at her. "Caught you. _Again_." Lucy smirked.

Jack coughed awkwardly. "What?! I don't just read books all the time!"

"No," Lucy agreed, quite amused. "But I've found your reading material, hidden under your mattress. I must say, the 'Vampires Exposed' didn't really appeal to me, but I suppose your thing _is_ breasts."

Jack's mouth fell open in horror. "You _read_ it?!"

"I rather liked the graphic book about all of the different positions," Lucy continued to tease, keeping her voice low so that Freddie didn't hear. "The pictures were rather...enlightening. May I borrow it some time?"

"Argh! That's disgusting, Lu!" He objected, looking around to see if anyone else had heard their conversation so far. "Besides, don't let Dad hear you say that; I think he's only just warming up to the idea of you dating Freddie. Don't ruin it by spreading around that you're...well..."

She grinned but changed the subject. "Anyway, have you seen Lily? I want to have a dance with her before the party ends."

"How am I meant to know?" Jack asked, still rather mortified by their previous topic of conversation. "Lu, I get her confused with you nowadays - the only difference is the eyes, and even then it's only vague."

"Oh! Oh!" Mina yelled excitedly, buzzing with excitement on Freddie's shoulders. "Lucy, I see her! She's over there, near the bar... Holy Rabies!"

Lucy and Jack shared a look. "What?" Jack questioned, peering up at her shocked face. "What's the matter?!"

Their younger sister's mouth fell wide open. "Holy Rabies, Holy Rabies... SHE'S TALKING TO A BOY!"

"What?!" Lucy shouted.

Jack straightened up, suddenly looking somewhat angry. "A BOY?!"

"She's talking to a boy!?" Freddie questioned, looking quite surprised himself; in the past few years, he'd come to know Lily pretty well, almost as if she were his own sister (after all, a zing kind of meant he was a part of his girlfriend's family anyway) and the thought of her talking to a boy was just as uncomfortable to him as it was to Jack.

Mina nodded excitedly. "Uh-huh, uh-huh! They're just staring at each other... YAY!" She exclaimed, practically bouncing on her friend's shoulders. "I THINK IT'S A ZING, GUYS!"

"No it's not!" Jack growled, starting to push through the crowd of dancing monsters. "I'm gonna go and see what the heck she's doing..."

Lucy looked up at Mina, still confused. "What does he look like? Can you see?"

Mina bit her lip, squinting through the throng of monsters. "Yeah...he's...I _think_ he's blonde. He's kinda tall too, and I _think_ he's a vampire too. I dunno, I can't see if he's got fangs or not."

Not satisfied with this description, Lucy morphed into her bat form and decided to check this out for herself; her sister's bright hair was immediately visible now that she had a high vantage point, and she swooped down closer to try and get a better look.

At the same time, Jack had gotten close enough to see more of this boy that his younger sister was talking to.

Both of them could only gape in utter horror when they realized who it was.

* * *

Mina gave a gasp from Freddie's shoulders and started to clutch at his hair desperately. "Go, go, go!"

"What?" He asked, quite confused. "What's up, lil' bat?"

"Go, go to where Lu and Jack just went!" Mina urged, pointing him in the general direction. "They're beating up that boy that Lils was hanging out with!"

Freddie started to move but cast the little girl a dubious look. "Beating him up?"

"Yes!" She stressed, tapping at him to move faster. "Well, Jack is - Lucy's yelling, and I think Lily is too-"

The party seemed to have stopped immediately then; the music went off as everyone turned to see what was going on, and it was only then that the two vampire friends heard what exactly was going on.

* * *

"Hey, get off of him, Jack!" Lily snarled, tugging at her brother angrily. "For God's sake, are you mad?!"

Jack just continued to shove the other boy in front of him. "You stay away from my sister, you ass!" He growled lowly, baring his fangs menacingly. "What?! You couldn't get one so you decided to go for another?"

"What the hell are you on about?!" The boy - or rather, young man - asked, trying to duck the punches being thrown at him. "I have no idea what's going on!"

Lily moved forwards to stop what was going on, but Lucy stopped her. "Don't," She warned, and Lily shot her a rather dark look. "You don't understand... Look, we'll explain later on, Lils..."

"No!" Lily protested firmly. "I'm twenty-one, I can do what I want! Now tell me why the hell you're pushing this guy around - what has he done to you?!"

There was a crowd gathering around them now: Mina and Freddie appeared near the front, and Mina looked absolutely horrified by all of the violence she was seeing. Freddie, however, trained his eyes on the new young man in question and went into protective mode.

"You!" He shouted, sounding a lot stronger than he usually felt. "You little son of a-" The rest of his words were lost when he hit the blonde man in the jaw and the crowd around them gave mutters and noises of shock. Mina gave a whimper, hiding her face in her hands.

Lily looked at Freddie, only getting more confused. "Can someone _please_ tell me what the hell is going on? Why are you all so angry at...at this guy?! What has he done to you?!"

Johnny and Mavis happened to push through the crowd at that moment, looking rather intrigued and disturbed by the fighting. "Daddy!" Mina cried, running over to where they were standing. They both looked rather confused as to what was going on and took in the scene in front of them with wide eyes.

Johnny hurriedly took her into his arms and looked between the young vampires (and young human) in question. "What's going on? Why are we fighting? I thought this was a party-"

"I'll tell you what's going on!" Jack interrupted fiercely. "This...this little ass tried to _rape_ my older sister a while ago!"

There was another loud gasp in the crowd, and a few monsters left - clearly, this was not a conversation they wanted to hear, and so they decided to just remove themselves from it entirely. Johnny and Mavis, however, had no choice but to stay - it was the conversation that no parent should have ever had to have concerning a child.

Johnny's eyes did something that had never once happened in his life of being a vampire; they flashed bright red, a fire igniting inside of him. "What do you mean he 'tried to _rape_ ' her?!"

Freddie glared at the blonde man in hate: he looked rather similar to an animal trying to protect its mate. "He took Lucy out to the forest..." He sent an apologetic look at Mavis and Johnny. "I don't really want to...but I guess I have to..." He took a deep breath. "I found them: _he_ had Lu pinned to a tree and he was trying to remove her clothes... He tried to force himself on her!"

Lily looked at the blonde, a mixture of feelings shown on her face. "Is that...is that true?"

He looked between Lily and Lucy, finally making the connection between the two. "Ah crap..." He ducked his head. "Look, I was just a kid then... I had no idea what I was doing! I...I mean, I was just..."

"You tried to rape my daughter?!" Johnny snarled, so angry that even Mina shrank away from him - not an easy feat, considering she was still in his arms.

Around them, everyone in the crowd were also starting to snarl and growl; a few stepped closer, baring their teeth and glaring down at the young vampire in rather menacing and threatening ways.

"STOP!"

All of the mutterings and murmurings fell silent at the sound of Lily's yell; the human was glaring around at everyone, brown eyes suddenly cold and serious.

"Stop it," She repeated, somewhat calmer now. "Look, I...I know that he looks bad right now but..." She gave a sigh. "He wasn't taking advantage of me you know! I tripped and fell into him and then...and then..." She looked at her parents pleadingly - of all people, she hoped that they would understand. "I think it was a...a..."

Lucy's mouth fell open in horror while Jack and Freddie both started and started to protest. Johnny just looked at his youngest daughter, clearly not quite sure what to think, and Mavis...it was clear that she was suffering from conflicting thoughts and feelings on the matter.

"Okay, rape and all that _is_ a pretty disgusting thing," Lily continued, somewhat unsurely. "And I agree, it's awful that he nearly...especially to my sister... But people change, right?"

"Not like that," Jack muttered.

The red-haired human bit her lip. "You know, a wise person once told me that if you find your zing, then you should cherish it."

When she said this, she locked eyes with her Mom; Mavis' internal conflict only got worse thanks to this comment, and she was clearly torn between the two different approaches to the situation.

"I'm only going to live for...what? Another sixty or seventy years?" The human continued, somewhat more confident now. "And I...I want to..." She cleared her throat, offering the blonde young man a shy smile. "Who knows? Maybe a werewolf _does_ change his fur."

"I think Uncle Wayne would disagree with you," Mina muttered, voice muffled by Johnny's shirt.

Lucy looked at her sister, utterly defeated. "But...But he-"

"It's the past, Lu," Lily stated, turning to the entire group to address them. "Just give him a chance. For me?"

Everyone looked around at each other; the guests mainly grumbled and started to return to their rooms. Lily's family, however, remained where they were - it was clear that they were still quite unsure on what to do.

"Come on," Lucy muttered, grabbing Freddie's hand and Jack's arm. "I think that Mom and Dad need a conversation _alone_ with Lils right now." The door slammed shut behind them, the sound echoing throughout the hall and filling the suddenly awkward silence that had arrived.

Finally, Mavis stepped forwards; she eyed the blonde up apprehensively before turning to Lily seriously. "Fine," She agreed quietly, and Johnny gave a start from behind her. "He should get a second chance...But if he _does_ turn out to be like what everyone else is saying..."

"I know, Mom," Lily agreed, nodding her head. "I promise."

Johnny looked very much like he wanted to disagree, but a whine from Mina distracted him and he gave a sigh. "Fine," He repeated, voice somewhat less accommodating and more stern than his wife's had been. "But I swear, the first sign of trouble there is, I _will_ kill him."

Lily couldn't help but smile - empty threats from her usually peaceful father really did amuse her to no end.

* * *

"You know, it's been two nights since that party and I still don't know your name."

"Oh. I'm Damien."

"Damien. Huh. That's a cool name. I'm Lily."

The love of a zing was not something to be messed around with, and Lily had been correct - if you even just _think_ you may have zinged, it is always for the best if you attempt (even mildly) to pursue it. If not: well, at least you made sure and didn't end up potentially with a broken heart from being separated permanently.

And if it was...well, that was a whole new ball game indeed.


	6. Unexpected Discoveries

Over the years, Lily had begun to make some very unexpected discoveries during her night time explorations of her grandfather's hotel: one time, when she was eight, she had found a box full of old paintings while playing with Mina. The two had looked through the portraits that they found, taking it in turns to guess who was who in each one.

"Oh! That's Grandpa Drac!" Mina announced triumphantly. "He still looks like that, doesn't he?"

Lily nodded, picking up another one. "I think...well, that _has_ to be Grandma, right? I mean, Grandpa's with her and she looks like what Grandpa tells us she does."

Mina nodded as well. "Yeah. I've seen paintings in Grandpa's room - that's Grandma."

Next the two stumbled on a few rather worn out clothes and decorations; some were in good enough condition that the two threw them over their heads and played dress-up for half an hour. There were also old toys (maybe their mother's from another time?) and Lily immediately attatched herself to a skeleton dolly.

"What?" She asked when Mina just stared at her. "My unicorn needs a friend! Don't- Hey, what's that?"

They both faced the same direction to look at it: it was an old box of some kind - it was rather small, like a shoebox, and had a purple ribbon wrapped around it to keep any pests from getting inside. Mina undid the ribbon and blew some dust off of the cover of the box and looked at her sister uncertainly. "What if it's something private?"

"Let's see," Lily urged, not even thinking about that - in her mind, the two had found it and so could look inside.

The dark-haired girl opened the lid and her eyes lit up. "Oh, wow! Look, Lils! It's photographs!"

Lily blinked, confused. "But...but you said that you guys can't show up in photos..."

"Maybe it's some of the other monsters," Mina decided. "Or...maybe humans!"

The red-head couldn't help but suddenly feel weak: she didn't know any humans other than herself, and the thought of even just _seeing_ other humans made her somewhat intrigued. "Let's look and see."

There were about fifty photos, all of them in colour and pretty clear. The two children lay the photos out individually in front of them so that they could be surveyed, eyes wide and mouths wide open with excitement.

Mina was the first to break the tension between them. "That...that's Daddy."

Lily peered at the photo in question and felt a smile stretch across her face; Johnny was instantly recognizable, thanks to his bright and unruly red hair and lit up brown eyes. He looked much younger in this photo, though; no older than Lily in fact. He was holding onto a bizarrely large dog (presumably somebody in a costume) with yellow fur and long, droopy black ears, and he was grinning brightly at the camera.

" _Dis...Dis...nee...land,_ " Lily sounded out, looking at the lettering across the top of the photo. " _Disneyland._ What's that?"

Mina shrugged. "I dunno. Looks fun though."

The next photo with their father in it was when he was even smaller - around the same age as in the photo - and he was wearing a backpack on his back, hands clutching the straps, and a t-shirt that said, 'Mickey' on it with a cartoon of a mouse. He was standing next to two other boys, both older than him - both sporting red hair of course - and it was clear that they were brothers.

"Daddy has brothers?" Lily questioned, looking at her sister for confirmation. "How come we never meet them?"

Mina shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they had a fight or something?"

"I don't like that photo," The human girl announced suddenly, pointing at another one and looking quite worried. Johnny looked to be about eighteen, and while he looked perfectly happy, it made both of the girls uncomfortable to see him with his arm around the shoulders of a pretty petite blonde girl. Her hands were on his shoulder and she was sending a pout at the camera, clearly trying to appear...well, they were both too young to understand why a girl back then would want to do that.

Mina wrinkled her nose, staring at it in disgust. "Eww. I don't like her - I like Mommy a lot better." She sent her sister a look, trying to appear as though she knew everything. "This was probably before he met Mommy and they zinged, Lils." She nodded her head, as if her opinion were final. "Yes. Mommy is way better."

Lily let out a breath and looked relieved. After a few seconds, she turned to her sister slowly and gave her a shy smile. "Mina?" She murmured quietly. "I like Mommy a lot better as well."

"Uh-huh," Mina agreed, a small smirk on her face. "Obviously Daddy does too."

* * *

Lily had had enough, she really had.

"Jack!" She yelled, stomping her foot angrily and pacing down the corridor to her brother's room. "You stole my ballet shoes again, didn't you? It's not funny! You know that I can't go and meet Madame Bellemont without them!"

Since the door to his room was never locked (thanks to various wishes from their parents and Grandpa), Lily just opened it and looked around the room; of course Jack wasn't in there, conveniently missing when she needed to yell at him.

Sighing to herself, Lily decided to look around and find her shoes for herself. There was no telling where Jack was, and her next dance lesson was to begin in half-an-hour - she still needed to have time to get to the lesson (this time held in the ballroom of the hotel) and since she didn't have monster speed on her side, she had to do things the difficult way.

The first place she checked was underneath his bed - all that she found was her brother's suitcase shoved under there, empty and not needed right now. Growling to herself, she stood up and decided to check through his bedside drawers.

"I'll only find books," She muttered angrily, sitting on the freshly made bed and yanking over the first of his three drawers. "Let's see...money, bookmarks... Eww...is that a yoghurt carton in there?" Lily shuddered, hurriedly shutting the drawer and turning to the next one. "Let's see..."

Lily trailed off when she found a pile of magazines hidden in there.

"Good God," She muttered in horror, and she stared at the cover of the top one: a very young female vampire was posed on the cover, giving the camera a sultry look, and wearing nothing more than a thin pair of knickers.

Lily picked the pile up and looked at the covers in shock; all of them sported zesty headlines about sex in some way, and all but one of them had girls in nothing more than lingerie. The one that didn't was no better; the model was on the front, her legs spread apart and her hands reaching behind her, as if to unclasp her bra.

Jack was reading _porn_ magazines.

"My, my," She muttered to herself, a small smirk flitting across her lips. "You're not getting away with stealing my shoes anymore, Jack. Not after this."

Feeling quite daring, the ten year old opened the top magazine - only for her jaw to drop in horror.

"EWW!" She shouted, resisting the urge to shut it again, instead blinking to try and clear her mind. "Why the heck...that's just...Jack..." She muttered, looking over the pages in slight disgust.

_Why on Earth would someone want to do...do...that?!_

Hearing about sex was one thing - but actually seeing pictures was quite another.

Supressing a groan, Lily hurriedly shut the cover and shoved the entire pile back into her brother's drawers; this was not something she wanted to see anymore of... She was so mortified by what she had seen that she didn't think she'd be able to tell her parents about the ordeal.

On the bright side, though, she had just found new blackmail material to let her get whatever she wanted. That thought caused her to smirk to herself.

* * *

"OHMYGOD!"

Lucy's head shot up at the sound of her fourteen - nearly fifteen, mind you - year old sister's scream. "What? Lils, what's the matter?"

Lily came out of the bathroom, staring at her sister in utter horror. "I was just...I started my you-know-what...I needed to put in a tampon...I went to go and put the wrapper in the bin and...and..." She swallowed, giving her sister a beady look. "What the hell are you thinking?"

Lucy just stared at her, quite puzzled. "I'm not sure what you're on about, to be honest."

It was only when Lily lifted her arm that the vampire realized she was holding something in her hand - between her fingertips, more like, as if she were afraid to touch it.

"What is _this_?" Lily demanded. "And don't lie to me, Lucy, because I'll know!"

It didn't take long for the red-haired vampire to recognize what her sister had found; it looked rather like an empty clear balloon, and it was with embarrassment that she realized what exactly her sister had just stumbled across.

"This is a condom!" Lily snapped when Lucy didn't say anything. "You've been using a condom! And I think I know who with!"

"Lily," Lucy said slowly, regarding her sister carefully. "Look, I'm a hundred and eighteen now. It's perfectly legal for me to be...to be with my boyfriend."

Her little sister went bright red. "It's just... _you_ 've had sex? _You_?! And Freddie?!" She shuddered. "This is too weird. This is way too weird. He's...He's older than you, and you slept with him! You let him have sex with you!"

Lucy sighed: this was not quite a reaction she would have anticipated. "I know that you might be...worried for my well-being, Lily, and I can understand that. If you want, though, I can explain the entire thing to you."

Lily gave her a sceptical look. "I already know what sex is."

"That's not what I meant."

The human gave a huff and sat down on the bed, waiting and folding her arms together expectantly. "Go on then. Tell me."

Lucy bit her lip, shuffling closer to her sister and putting an arm around her. "What exactly is worrying you, Lily? If you tell me what about it makes you...uncomfortable...then I'll try to explain as best to you as I can."

Lily looked down at her lap and back up again. "I guess it's just...you only _just_ turned a hundred and eighteen last October and now...now you and Freddie are 'doing things'." She gave a small shrug. "I just... He hasn't been...I mean..."

"No," Lucy promised sincerely, understanding immediately. "It was a joint decision, I promise. Actually, it took a lot of convincing for _me_ to get _him_ on board - he isn't the forceful type, you know."

Lily gave a small smile.

"And if the pregnancy thing is something you're worried about, I think we've got evidence that I'm being safe," Lucy added wryly.

"I guess sex is just weird to me," The human sister muttered, somewhat reluctantly. "I know how it works and everything but...but..." She went bright red. "It just doesn't sound nice or romantic at all; it sounds painful and uncomfortable."

Lucy gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I suppose I felt like that too when I was younger. But when you get to my age and you start to understand a little bit more, it all makes sense." Lily sent her a look, waiting for her to elaborate. "Well...okay, at first it _is_ uncomfortable and a bit painful."

"And you still did it?!"

"It's only for a little while," Her sister assured her, looking away out of shyness and embarrassment. "But then, after a while, it feels...good. I know from experience that there's nothing quite like it..." She smiled to herself. "The best way I can put it, Lily, is that it's an adult way of showing that you love someone."

Lily was silent for a few moments, slightly taking this information in. "I see."

"It's normal to be worried about that kind of thing," Lucy told her, putting an arm around her. "I _was_ the first time but I knew that it was the right time... If it wasn't that fantastic, then...well, let's just say that Mom and Dad wouldn't have had four of us."

Lily made a gagging noise, looking horrified. "Eww! Lu, that is disgusting!"

They both giggled before Lucy sent Lily a serious look - a slightly pleading one. "Do me one thing?"

Lily gave a tiny nod.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad - especially not Dad. You know that he'll go into protective mode or something."

Lily grinned - she had no plans, whatsoever, to be the one to bring this particular piece of information up with their parents.


	7. Damien

"I cannot believe you, Lily!"

Lily glared at her brother icily. "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry, Jack, but a zing is pretty involuntary you know!"

Jack just gave an angry noise and continued to pace. Freddie looked at her, in almost disbelief, and spoke quietly. "He...He tried to do _things_ to Lucy, Lily: I saw it with my own eyes. He's not a good guy."

"He was younger then," The red-head retorted. "We all do stupid stuff when we're younger - and I'm twenty one now, guys. I can totally look after myself!" She folded her arms stubbornly. "I know that you're both worried about me - I mean, you're my brothers - but I can make a decision about boys - men - I date."

"He tried to rape our sister!" Jack growled protectively. "If Freddie hadn't been there when he had...do you not realize just how bad things could have gone?! You _know_ that that time had been... It was a difficult time for us."

Lily bit her lip - she knew very well now what exactly had been going on around that time. "I'm not saying what he did was alright at all. But he's my zing and you only get one and...and..." She looked down at the floor. "Let's face it, I'm not going to live much longer compared to you guys: I need to make the best of my life."

Jack and Freddie sent each other unsure looks, not quite sure what to make of this.

Finally, Jack gulped. "That's not fair," He stated quietly. "Stop using that as an excuse for everything."

"It's the truth," Lily told him bluntly. "Why deny it? Look, I know what he did was wrong and if I had known him then, then I would have...well, I would have probably killed him or at least hurt him in some way. But he's older now and he probably feels mortified by what he did - maybe even guilty."

Freddie huffed. "He wasn't feeling it then - he went and reported me to the Council. I had charges put against me that weren't even true - I could have lost my job because of him."

"I know, I know," Lily sighed, looking down at the floor. "But it was _twenty-one_ years ago. Don't you think that people can change?" She didn't wait for either of them to reply. "You know what, I'm done with this; I'm going to bed and I'll talk to him tomorrow."

Jack grit his teeth together. "No you're not. You might be an adult in the human world, but in the monster world you're still a child."

"If we stick to that then I won't _ever_ be an adult," Lily snapped hotly. "I'm not gonna live to be a hundred and eighteen! Besides, I look old enough to be a hundred and thirty - I'm an adult, and you can't stop me from doing what I want!"

Jack went extremely pale - paler than Lily had ever seen him - and it seemed that all of the fight left his body at the mention of her aging. Freddie's mouth just fell open, not quite sure what to say to counter this argument.

"Just give him a chance," The red-haired human pleaded, taking a step closer to the two of them. "Mom agreed, and if Mom agrees then that means that she could probably get Dad on board too... I don't want to have you h-hating me for this."

Okay, so maybe that last sentence had been added in merely so that she'd sound dramatic, but still, she felt quite proud of herself for coming up with it on the spot.

Freddie sighed, looking down at the floor grumpily. "I just... I hate him. He was such a...such a...you know. I just don't know if someone can change over time." He gave another sigh and scuffed his shoes against the floor while letting out a long whistle. "Fine; but the first sign of trouble, and I get to kick his ass."

Lily rolled her eyes - but a smile was starting to form on her face. "Sure. If you want."

"I'll kill him if he does anything," Jack muttered lowly, it nearly coming out as an aggressive snarl. "Even if he's changed, Lils, I'm gonna keep _very_ good watch of him...I don't care if he's your zing or not: the first slip-up he makes, and he's dead."

Lily shook her head at them both; honestly, older brothers said such stupid things to seem big sometimes...

She tried not to smirk, though, at the thought that, if needed, she could take on both of them at any time - the same time - and come out without injuries.

* * *

"I still don't like him."

Mavis just laughed and shook her head at her husband. "Really?!" She asked incredously. "Johnny, they've been together for a year now; if he wanted to do anything, then I'm sure that he would have."

Johnny gave a grumble as he watched his daughter and her boyfriend talk outside. "I don't like how close he is; I mean, his arm is just so low down her back! Any lower and..." His eyes flashed. "I don't like him."

"You said the same about Freddie, you know," Mavis reminded him, sitting back on the couch and flipping through a magazine absent-mindedly. " _He's nothing but bad news... Befriending a child and then making a move on Lucy..._ "

He turned around at her impression of him. "Well, that was twenty two years ago; he's a good kid really. But we have to be careful, Mavy, or God knows what might happen." He looked about out of the window and narrowed his eyes. "I don't care if he's a vampire too, I'll still try to suck all of his blood out if he hurts her."

His wife gave a snort. "Johnny! You sound like my dad! Leave them alone; you're treating our daughters' boyfriends like crap."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for being concerned," Johnny mumbled, storming away from the window and falling backwards onto the couch next to her. "Next time I won't bother; they can date whoever the hell they want then without me saying anything!"

Mavis put her magazine down and gave him a hard look. "Look, I understand your concern, Johnny - I'm the same - but...maybe just tone it down a bit." She pointed out of the window. "You just looked at them outside; she looks so happy when she's around him. And, to be honest, I've seen the way that he looks at her... She's in safe hands."

Johnny huffed. "Last month, Mavy: she didn't look very happy then."

"It was a small fight," Mavis stated. "All couples have them - we've had enough."

"Besides, what's he gonna be like when she starts to get old?" The red-haired man questioned. "It's all good saying that he loves her _now_ but just wait until she becomes a little grey-haired old lady who can't walk; he can't possibly..." He stopped talking and swallowed thickly. "Sorry."

His wife sighed. "It's fine." She put a hand on his, giving him a serious look. "Trust me on this - she's going to be happy with him. She's not an idiot, and I don't think she'd do something she doesn't want to do." She squeezed his hand. "We want her to be happy, Johnny."

Johnny sighed as well, looking away from her and up at the paintings and photos on the wall; Lily's beaming face stared back at him from numerous years, making his heart hurt. Since none of the others could appear in photos, the only form of her with them was in paintings - even in the art, he could see her cheeky grin and outgoing personality shine on her face.

She hadn't been shy about sharing her feelings, that's for sure. And, he supposed, that wouldn't have changed.

"I still don't like him," Johnny grumbled and Mavis grinned to herself. "He's got a lot of ass-kissing to do before anything else happens between them."

_Well, at least she'll be happy...even if it is with that smug little blonde bastard._

* * *

Damien watched as Lily busied herself around the room, grabbing various articles of clothing and objects hurriedly. Her suitcase was open on the bed beside him, and he could only sit there while she prepared herself for the upcoming trip.

Finally, he swallowed down the lump in his throat. "How long are you gonna be gone for?"

Lily shrugged, picking up a hanger holding a rather nice dress. "Who knows? I mean...it's a tour. It's however long they want me for." She sent him a grin. "I still can't believe they picked me...I so thought I'd screwed my audition up!"

"I've told you," He said immediately, a smile involuntarily making its way on his face. "When you dance, no one can take their eyes off of you."

"Yeah, but you're my boyfriend," She stated, rolling her eyes at him. "You're so biased."

Damien, smiling still, looked down at his lap for a few moments. "So what exactly is this gig then? I still don't really get it."

Lily turned around to put her clothes in her suitcase. "It's...well, I'm gonna be a back-up dancer for this singer... I don't know her, really, I've never really heard her music, but a job is a job." She sat down, looking at him breathlessly. "How lucky is it that I get picked to do an audition while we were on holiday in America?!"

"Hmm."

"Maybe Madame Bellemont spoke with an associate of hers in America or something," She continued. "And then that associate somehow managed to put in a good word for me..."

"Actually," Damien said, sending her a small smirk. "We got a phone call from some guy - he'd obviously phoned the wrong number or something - and he started going on about audition times and stuff. Technically, you _stole_ another girl's dream job."

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, ha ha. Very funny." She looked at him for a moment, her smile slowly fading. "You're not happy about me going, are you?"

He hesitated before sighing. "Well, no. I guess not. I mean, don't get me wrong: I'm so happy for you! You deserve it, Lily, more than anything in the world, and I've never been more proud of someone."

"But?" She prompted.

"But...But I'm going to miss you," Damien admitted, somewhat shyly. "I've gotten so used to being around you - to living with you - that you being gone is just...weird."

Lily put a hand on his cheek and gave him a sincere look. "I know what you mean; I'm going to miss you too."

"I wish I could come with you."

She nodded in agreement. "Me too... But we're going to be travelling, and I'd either be doing a live show or rehearsing for a live show - I'll need to sleep at night, which is when you'll be awake. We still wouldn't see each other. But I _promise_ that I'll call you whenever I can."

He smiled. "And...And you won't start some kind of romance with an American star?"

Lily snorted with laughter. "Oh, trust me, I have no urges whatsoever to run away with an airhead over there - not when I've got you here."

Any doubts were pushed far into the back of his mind when she pulled him in for a kiss, arms twining around his neck; he could smell the scent of her strawberry shampoo in her hair as it fell from behind her ears, and the feel of her warm body was reassuring.

_That tour better end quickly._

* * *

If she curled up real small, no one would see her.

"It's okay."

She felt his hand on her shoulder and looked up tearfully.

"I'm...I'm so sorry," Lily choked out, sniffling and starting to cry again. "I-I-I'm so, so sorry..."

"Oh, Lils..." Damien bent down and suddenly she was wrapped in his arms; safe and warm. "It's not your fault... It's just one of those things..."

Lily clung to him, burying her face in his chest. "I-I should h-h-have known...My Mom can't have anymore...a-a-and I should have _known_ that I wouldn't be able to have any either!" She started to sob again. "I'm so sorry!"

Damien's hold on her tightened. "You're all I need," He muttered, a lone tear rolling down his own cheek. "Children or no children, I love you and...and we're going to get through this."


	8. When Life is Unfair

Mavis didn't think it particularly fair, the way that things had worked out; that _she_ screwed up and made a bad decision...and yet it was Lily - who was a result of that decision - that didn't get to live long. That, even after years, there continued to be consequences - she wasn't allowed to forget how blind she'd been, how senseless and stupid.

Even months after the baby had been born, Mavis would stay up while everyone else was asleep and just watch Lily sleep. She would whisper apologies - it was all her fault, a baby didn't deserve this - and make sure that her youngest was as safe as can be.

When Lily became a rather cheeky and talkative toddler a couple of years in, she looked happy enough; she was spoilt rotten, after all. In fact, if you had watched the family for days at a time, they would have seemed like your normal and average family - completely happy and content. But deep down, they all had their cracks, their worries and doubts.

The first time Mavis realized it had actually affected the kids badly was when Mina woke up screaming after a scary dream. Johnny, being her favourite, had gone to comfort her until she fell asleep again; ten minutes later, he had walked back into his and Mavis' bedroom with a rather worried look on his face.

"What is it?"

Johnny gulped. "She...It was about Lily."

Mavis swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling quite nauseous all of a sudden: she didn't dare ask the exact details of this dream, frightened that she would have the same nightmare - she was already having infrequent nightmares every so often, and she didn't want to tempt another one to appear.

The older two weren't spared either; Mavis had heard Lucy muttering in her sleep about saving someone - the words 'don't touch her' and 'my sister' gave it away immediately - and then Jack...well, Jack _appeared_ to be handling it better than his sisters, but both of his parents had seen him shed a tear a few times when looking at pictures depicting how fast she had grown.

"It's not fair," Jack muttered, resting his head on Mavis' shoulder when she finally confronted him about it. "There's all those evil people out there that'll get to live for hundreds of years...they'll continue to harm or kill... But Lily doesn't even get a century with us. She's...Mom, she didn't do anything wrong..."

Mavis sighed, wrapping an arm around him. "I know."

"Are you sure w-we can't do anything?" Jack asked, a small amount of hope in his voice. "I mean, maybe there's some kind of method out there...I could find it for us..."

The look on his mother's face immediately stopped him.

"There's... You've already looked, haven't you?"

Mavis gave a nod, not looking him. "Your Grandpa's been looking since she was born...the only option is to see if she might change if we bite her, but...but I can't do that to her..."

"And it's unlikely it would work," Her son finished, sighing to himself. "Her immune system would reject the change." He hesitated before continuing. "Perhaps...if we _didn't_ make her a _vampire_ but...but still a monster... I mean, what about making her a Stein or a werewolf?"

She shook her head. "No, Jack; it doesn't exactly work like that. Your Grandpa's told me that we're the only monsters who can...well...change humans if need be."

Jack looked horrified and immediately burrowed back into his mother's embrace. "I-I-It's not fair!" She heard him start to cry.

Mavis had to hold back her own tears as she hugged him; it really wasn't fair, was it?

* * *

After Madame Bellemont's kind offer of dance lessons, Lily had gone back downstairs to tell her siblings and Dracula (or anyone who would listen) and left her parents to themselves once more.

Johnny was happily fixing up the bed that had been destroyed in the pillow fight he and Mavis had had before while his wife went to the bathroom quickly when his mind started to wander.

 _Hmm...she kinda has been in a bad mood lately,_ He thought bemusedly. _Heh, I haven't her like this since before-_

He stopped, dropping the pillow he was holding as he realized; the last time she'd been like this had been when she'd been pregnant with Lily (both times, thinking on it) and she hadn't wanted to tell him. But...no...it wasn't possible. Johnny was sure that he'd been told that Mavis had been so badly affected from having Lily that having other kids was out of the window.

_But what if?_

Mavis re-entered the bedroom at that moment and sent him an amused grin. "Having a bit of trouble, Johnny? It's only a bed."

As she moved to pick it up, he could only stare at her; her stomach didn't look any rounder, and he was sure that he would have noticed something like cravings or sickness throughout the day...but maybe this one was different...

"Johnny?"

Johnny was jolted out of his thoughts, only able to stare at her. "We...but...you...what..."

Mavis frowned at him. "Are you...feeling okay? 'Cause you look like you're gonna faint or something..."

The red-head just continued to look baffled for a moment. "You're not..." He swallowed. "You're not...like...pregnant, are you?"

She looked offended and glared at him. "No! Of course not! Why?! Are you saying I look fat?"

 _Ah crap._ "No," He assured her quickly, putting a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm. "It's just that you're being...weird lately, and moody...it's just that the last time was 'cause of...you know..."

The hurt look on Mavis' face was wiped immediately and replaced with a sad one. "Oh." She sighed and sat down on the half-made bed, gesturing for him to do the same. "I guess it's only fair I tell you..."

Johnny sat down, looking at her curiously. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like this would be a nice conversation.

"The thing is... _I_ thought I was," She admitted, looking down at her hands. "I thought that maybe...just maybe...I could still have kids. That things could be normal..." She gave a small, almost inaudible sniffle. "I'm not. I saw someone a few days ago - some kind of nurse who was staying - and she took a look. She did a big, full-out examination." She wiped at her eyes with the back of her right hand. "I'm not, a-a-and now I _know_ I never will..."

"Oh, Mavy," Johnny murmured, his heart breaking for her.

"I'm sorry," She continued tearfully, not looking at him. "I guess...I guess that's it then...we can't have anymore, a-a-and it's all my fault..." She shook her head, giving into her tears and covering her face with her hands. "I-I-It's so unfair!"

Johnny wrapped his arms around his wife, a sole tear rolling down his own cheek. "It's okay, Mavy...well, it's _not_ okay..." He took a deep breath, running a hand down her back. "It's not your fault; don't blame yourself. Besides, we've had, like, a ton, right? _Four_. Man, that's pretty impressive." He leaned in, making sure to let her know he meant everything he said. "You know, I don't love you just because you have kids with me."

She let out a small, wet chuckle. "I-I know..."

"Even if we hadn't had any kids," Johnny continued, talking more into her hair now. "I'd have been totally cool with that; as long as I had you, everything would have been alright." He paused. "Although, I'm glad that we _do_ have kids, 'cause they're all so awesome."

Mavis nodded into his shoulder. "Me too." She took a deep breath, arms tightening around him. "I love you, you know."

"I love you too," Johnny muttered back, closing his eyes to enjoy the hug.

It was still early in the night, and everyone else was pre-occupied with other matters - there was no need to separate from each other just yet.

* * *

"Well...Lucy and I are having a baby!"

No. No. _No._

"Congratulations!" Al shouted, giving his nephew a punch on the shoulder. "I didn't know you had it in you, Freddo!"

"That's awesome, sis!" Jack yelled, kissing her cheeks. "When's it due?"

Lucy smiled, putting a hand on her still-flat stomach. "Not until February - I've got to put up with it during Christmas."

This was not happening...no higher power could have been this cruel, this _sadistic_...

"Man," Johnny muttered - but he grinned nonetheless as he embraced his daughter and son-in-law. "I'm not old enough to be a grandpa!... Meh, who cares?! A kid is a kid! That's great, guys!" He kissed his eldest on the forehead and she laughed, leaning into his hug.

Mina gave an excited squeal. "Yay! I'm gonna be an auntie! Freddie, Freddie, can I be the favourite auntie?"

A hand appeared on Lily's shoulder, and the voice she recognized to be Damien's said, "Lily-"

Lily didn't want to hear it: she didn't want to hear that she should be happy for her sister, that she had to put her own wants and needs away, that her own sister was getting the things she wanted to easily. She didn't want to listen to the congratulations that the family would give to her sister, not when she wanted it to be her. Without a word, she stood up and ran from the room.

Immediately, the family fell silent - only Damien didn't look shocked, and he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

He felt a small tug on his trousers and looked down; Mina, who was still tiny even though she was nearing her teenage years, was staring up at him inquisitively. "What's the matter with my sister?" She demanded to know, giving him a hard look - clearly, she was still very much the 'big sister'.

Damien sighed again and looked around at his zing's family awkwardly. "It's just that...well...she's been a bit..." He gave a groan. "Fuck it. We want kids and we can't have them because of what happened to her when she was born."

Everyone in the room gaped at each other in horror; Mavis looked extremely guilt-ridden as she collapsed back onto the couch, Johnny immediately rushing to rub soothing circles on her knuckles with his thumb and whisper reassurances.

Lucy stepped forwards, looking completely mortified. "You mean...and I..." When he nodded she gave a gasp. "God... She must hate me after tonight..."

Freddie put an arm around her. "She won't, Lu; it's not your fault that..." He trailed off, lost for words.

Jack looked down at the floor, putting his hands in his pockets. "Christ," He muttered under his breath. "That's just...Christ."

"I'm the worst sister ever," Lucy stated tearfully, shaking her head as she sat down. "Here we are, going on and on about having a baby - and then Lily can't have one, and we've been _bragging_ about it nearly." She bit her lip and glared down at her lap. "I was complaining about having to deal with it during Christmas! I'm such an idiot!"

"How were you meant to know?" Al said gently, looking rather surprised himself. "She never said anything, Lucy. It's not your fault."

Meanwhile, none of them had noticed that Mina had disappeared from the room to go and search for her sister; it didn't take long for her to realize that Lily had gone outside and was sitting on the ground beneath a nearby tree. The child cautiously made her way outside, being careful not to mess up her dress, and tentatively moved in closer.

She cleared her throat. "Lily? It's me."

Lily turned away from her, burying her head in her knees. "Go away."

Mina moved in closer, taking tiny footsteps so as to not alarm her. "I know why you're sad," She stated innocently, sitting down next to the human on the grass and starting to pick at the green blades. "It's okay - kids are boring and they smell anyway."

Lily lifted and shook her head. "No, Mina. You wouldn't understand..."

Mina sighed, frowning and crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry that you can't have kids, Lily. You'd have made a great Mom." She put a hand on her sister's leg comfortingly. "Everything's going to be okay in the end, you know."

Lily snorted. "Oh yeah? And what makes you think that?"

"Because things are always okay in the end for nice people," The child said simply, as if it were obvious. "Like, when Mom and Dad were sad because you went to Heaven before...but you came back and made them happy." She paused. "You made us all happy."

Lily gave a sniffle, rubbing at her eyes. "M-Mina? Could I...Could you maybe...give me a hug?"

Mina nodded and wrapped her arms around her sister; for the first time in the little vampire's life, she realized that this was the first time that she actually fully understand just how unfair the whole situation was.


	9. Babies

Put simply, Jack was not at all fond of babies.

It wasn't as if he hated them with a burning passion or anything - no, he just...he couldn't put up with them for long. They were irritating, noisy, and to top it all off: they smelled funny.

The first time that this was apparent was when Mina had been born; he'd disliked her intently, refusing to spend any time with her or their parents as revenge. Part of it had been because he was no longer the youngest - that all of the attention was going to someone else - but he'd come to learn that babies were something that he wouldn't want to waste his time with _ever_.

When Mina got a little older and didn't cry so much (and was toilet trained too), then he had come to like her a little bit more - after all, he was her brother; there was an age-old agreement that brothers were protectors of little sisters, that they were strong but sometimes irritating to them. And, as time passed, he'd come to like Mina more and more.

He hadn't been expecting _another_ sibling to come along.

While Jack tried to be mindful that Lily was a baby, and that she couldn't help it, it didn't stop him from being pissed off whenever she woke him up during the day, or when she started crying while he was trying to read.

And he certainly didn't like his studies being interrupted so that he could keep an eye on her.

"It's only for a couple of hours, Jack," Lucy told him impatiently, passing their baby sister to him. "Besides I'm taking Mina with me - that's two sisters off your back."

He gave an annoyed sigh in protest. "Mom and Dad put _you_ in charge, Lu; _you_ 're meant to be baby-sitting, not me!"

"I know," She said quickly, rolling her eyes impatiently. "But I'm busy tonight so...so...so you're in charge of Lily for now."

"Busy?!" He asked incredously. "What do you mean by 'busy'?! You're only going on a date with your boyfriend - you're not busy at all!"

Lucy let out an irritated noise. "Look, just do it! I'll be back before Mom and Dad - I'll only be a couple of hours - so you can still go back to your reading or whatever, okay?...And it's not just for _me_ see him! Mina wants to see him as well!" Before he could protest, she morphed into a bat and started to fly away. "You need to grow up, Jack."

_I need to grow up?! She's the one dumping our baby sister on me!_

Jack looked down at Lily nervously; she peered up at him with wide brown eyes. "Err...so..." _What am I meant to do with her?_ "Are you hungry?" He asked quickly, using the first thing to come into his head. "Maybe I can make you that human stuff that Dad feeds you."

Of course, saying something and doing it are completely different matters; it soon became apparent that Jack had no idea what he was meant to do with the tin marked 'Baby Formula', even after reading the instructions on the label, so he put it back and tried to figure something else out.

"Right," He muttered to himself; Lily was staring at him expectantly from her high chair at the table, waiting for him to do something. "You know what I can make you? Milk. How about a bottle of milk?"

She just blinked at him.

"Here, I'll get you some milk," Jack decided, quickly going over to the fridge to grab some. "Let's see... I swear Mom told me that babies don't like it cold, so...so we've got to make this hot somehow..."

 _I really have no clue what I'm doing_. For all of his knowledge and reading experience, he couldn't figure out how to take care of a baby.

He poured some milk into a baby's bottle and put the top of it on before staring at it dumbly. "Need to make it warm..." His eyes wondered over to the sink: it was still full of warm water used from the washing up that evening. "Well, not too hot, not too warm; that's gotta be right." He placed the bottle in the hot water, holding it upright so that no milk was lost and decided to wait a few minutes. "So..."

Lily just continued to look at him, brown eyes wide and head tilted.

"I've never made a bottle before," He stated, as if it were necessary to explain himself. "Uhh... It seems warm enough now, so...so let's see if this works." He took the bottle out of the warm water in the sink and walked over to his baby sister. "Let's see...do I have to hold you or can I just shove it in there?"

_What the hell am I saying? Of course I can't just do that!_

To his surprise, Lily simply reached over and grabbed the bottle from his hands before placing the teat in the mouth; she managed to lift the bottle up somewhat and gave a happy gurgle when she achieved to drink some milk.

"Well then," Jack muttered to himself, stunned almost. "That's that I gue-"

He was cut off when the bottle fell to the floor; luckily, since it was plastic, it didn't smash - but it still made a rather loud noise as it hit the kitchen floor. Seconds later, it was clear that Lily didn't like the loss of her bottle - and she started to wail loudly.

"Shoot," Jack gritted out, bending down to pick up the bottle hurriedly. "Come on, Lils, stop that; look, the bottle's right here! Come on, you can still drink it..." He tried to force the teat back into her mouth but this just made the baby cry more and wriggle away from him.

After another minute and a half of trying to give back the bottle but failing, the teen-aged vampire gave up and put it on the table - he was really very nervous now. He'd never been left alone with Lily while she was crying, and he had no clue what he had to do to get her to stop.

Biting his lip, Jack bent down so that he was level with his sister and lifted her from her high chair. "Okay, I get it, Lily. You can stop crying now..." She continued to cry as he rocked her on the spot awkwardly. "How about...How about I sing you a lullaby or something?"

Unfortunately, Jack hadn't inherited his mother's singing skills - or, rather, he'd never intended to practice it at all in his life.

Unable to do much else, Jack gave a groan. "Why did Mom and Dad have to have another kid?... Actually, no... When Lucy gets home from the hotel, I'm gonna tear into her for doing this to me...stupid Lucy and her stupid boyfriend..."

_Lord, does she not stop crying?! Okay, think Jack...Let's see, whenever Mina starts to cry we give her that Martha-bat...Maybe if I give Lily a toy to cuddle she'll stop._

Setting off quickly to Mina's room (after all, she was bound to have the most stuffed animals in the house), he ran through the toys that he knew his sister to have in his head; which one would she even want to cuddle? Something told him that skeleton dollies weren't the normal playthings for humans - besides, what kind of toy would actually shut a baby up?

"Okay...you sit on Mina's bed for a moment," Jack muttered, putting Lily down on her back on the freshly made bed and quickly looking around for a toy that he could take without his other sister noticing. "Mina...How many toys do you need in here?"

Sighing, he started to sort through a few stuffed werewolves (courtesy of their Uncle Wayne and Auntie Wanda) and a rather creepy-looking gremlin doll lying on the floor (why the heck would a girl in her thirties want such a scary toy?!); surely no one in their right mind would want to give a child any of these, let alone a tiny baby.

"Ooh!"

Jack spun around; he hadn't noticed that Lily had stopped crying and instead taken up giggling...and he saw why moments later.

"Crap." He moved forwards slowly, eyes trained on his little sister carefully. "Lily...that's Mina's Martha-bat. You can't have that, okay? It's her special toy." Lightly, he started to tug it from her hand.

Lily immediately let out a noise of protest, eyes watering again. "Ngho!" She wrapped her arms tighter around the bat. "Ngho Ngho, Ja-ck!"

Jack knew he had to do something before his sisters got home (which he sort of hoped was soon, because he really couldn't take this anymore): while Mina was a very friendly and loving person...well, no one messed with her and Martha-bat. Jack had seen other children - some actually _older_ than Mina - at the hotel running away crying because they'd dared to pick up the bat toy without permission in front of the little dark-haired vampire.

If she could make kids cry, what the hell could she do to a baby with sticky fingers and who dribbled?

"Okay," Jack said slowly, trying to come up with a plan in his head. "Tell you what: you can have it until you fall asleep, but then I'll have to give it back to Mina." Lily, of course, didn't respond.

Now he had to try and get her to actually take a nap.

It was a couple of hours later that Lucy and Mina arrived home, morphing outside of the house before entering; Mina immediately ran to find Jack and Lily, bouncing with excitement from the latest visit to Hotel Transylvania.

"Jack, Jack! You'll never guess who we met!" She shouted happily, standing on the tips of her toes so that she could reach the door knob to her brother's room. Lucy was close behind, unzipping her jacket and straightening out her clothes. "There was this really _freaky_ monster: she didn't have a face, and she was made of tentacles and... Lucy, I can't reach the door!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and easily opened the door for her.

Mina grinned at her. "Thanks. Anyway... This lady was so creepy 'cause she was dressed in these dresses, and... Jack?"

Both of the sisters looked around their brother's room, surprised; Jack was sprawled out on the middle of his bed, asleep, and snoring quietly to himself. And, right on the middle of his chest, was Lily: she was also spread out, like a little starfish, and had a hand tightly clenched onto Jack's T-shirt.

"Are they dead?" Mina asked, tilting her head to one side.

Lucy smirked to herself. "They're asleep. You know what?"

"What?"

"I really wish that we showed up on cameras right now; I want to take a picture of this so badly and never let him forget it."

* * *

Lily - in short - loved America.

For one thing, her father's side of the family were all Americans; going to the states herself made her feel quite connected with a part of her dad's history - with _her_ history. And then there was the fact that America was just...it was so big! It was different from Romania, she mused, what with all of the business going on; the roads were always full of traffic, boards of ads lit up at night so bright that it was difficult to miss.

Besides travelling around the states, Lily also quite enjoyed being around other humans - after so long of being around monsters (who she did still love) it felt rather refreshing to be around other people who were...well, more like her. The other humans on the tour with the pop star - the other back-up dancers - were pretty and very cool to hang around with too, and Lily soon found that she fit in with them easily.

As for feeling homesick...well, she _did_ miss her family and Damien more than she could say. But she kept to her promises; at least half an hour on the phone to her parents and her siblings, and another half an hour on the phone with Damien, who appeared to be missing her quite a lot.

_Well, duh. We're zings, why wouldn't he miss me?_

One evening, Lily was busy preparing backstage before a show with the other dancers; the singer they'd been touring with had disappeared to go and greet her husband (something that made Lily really wish that Damien was there with her), and so all of the women were left to chat as they stretched and warmed up.

"Is it wrong I still feel nervous?" One of the blondes, Alice, asked, toying with the bottom of her leotard - the costume for the first number. "Like, before going out there I mean. 'Cause once I've gone out there it's okay."

Brittany, a tall black girl, shrugged as she checked over her appearance in a mirror. "I don't have time to think of being nervous; I just have to hear that music and everything else kinda falls into place from there." She looked over her shoulder and laughed. "Hey, Jena! Your boy toy sent you _more_ flowers?"

The woman known as Jena - rather petite with shaggy gold hair in a short cut - snorted to herself. "Yup. You'd think that five this week was enough, but apparently not." When the other dancers laughed, she lifted her head up high and shook her head to herself. "At least my guy sends me flowers."

"Your guy is following us around," Brittany retorted. "Besides, _my_ guy has booked a weekend away at a resort for after the tour is over - a private thing, if you know what I mean."

Everyone else, including Lily, giggled like teenage girls at this.

"What about you, Lily?" Alice questioned after a moment. "Do you have a guy?"

"Yeah," Lily answered, nodding her head; her smile decreased just a fraction as she was reminded of how much she missed him. "Damien."

A dark-haired woman - this one called Anna - looked up from her stretches out of interest. "Hey, I remember you saying about having someone... You're from Romania, right? Transylvania?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Jena smirked as she strapped on her high-heeled shoes. "Damien, huh? Sounds like a bad boy to me... My favourite kind of boy."

Lily blushed bright pink. "Well...I wouldn't say that really. He's sweet really..."

"But with a hidden kinky side?" Jena asked bluntly. "No? Come on, I've always thought that guys who are sweet _really_ are the darkest perverts in the bedroom."

The red-head couldn't speak, she was _that_ embarrassed. Luckily, seconds later the singer that they were backing up for - weeks into the tour, and Lily still didn't know her name - came into the room. She was followed by a tall and rather good-looking man with a shaved head...and in the singer's arms was a gurgling baby.

"Holy shit," Jena muttered, eyes wide as she caught sight of it. "Is that yours, Elle?"

 _Elle. I've gotta remember that name,_ Lily thought hurriedly.

The singer - Elle - smiled proudly. "Oh yeah. She's come to visit before the show - thought she might like to come and meet you all."

Brittany immediately stepped forwards, tilting her head and cooing at the tiny baby. "She is adorable! How old is she?"

"About twenty months...nearly two now. God, time flies with kids, don't they?"

Lily couldn't help but feel in awe as she looked down at the baby girl; there was something so _beautiful_ and pure about this tiny little person that struck a chord with the red-head... This baby had the widest brown eyes she'd ever seen, which were peering around at everyone in interest. Unlike a vampire baby, this baby was definitely all flesh and blood, even by just looking at her; her cheeks were a bright healthy pink and somewhat chubby but in a cute way.

"...I love singing and all, but, honestly? I can't wait until I can cuddle up with my little baby girl again and relax for a night."

Lily smiled lightly to herself; she was sure that, in the future when she had kids of her own, she'd probably feel the same.

* * *

February was a special month - and the timing of Lucy and Freddie's baby couldn't have been more hilarious if anyone had tried.

Valentine's Day on the fourteenth had not been exactly easy for anyone; by this point, Lucy was about ready to pop and very cranky. As Freddie was worried about her and impending fatherhood, he of course became more clumsy and nervy - this often resulted in more harm than help. Valentine's Day wasn't very romantic that year, thanks to the large swell on Lucy's stomach and the amount of injuries Freddie had sustained from his increased clumsiness. As for everyone around them, it wasn't very fun when one person was cranky and another was prone to injuries every five minutes.

And then the contractions had started half way through the day while everyone was asleep.

It was about eight in the evening when it was all finally over - the screaming, the cursing, the threats - and what had been a rather hormonal and stressful nine months had finally come to a conclusion of something beautiful and innocent.

It was a boy - a healthy, chubby little boy that was soon wrapped in blue blankets and snuggled against his mother's chest.

Everyone came in to visit, of course - well, nearly everyone. Lily didn't come in with the rest of them...and it wasn't difficult to figure out why.

However, half an hour after Dracula, Al, Johnny and Mavis had left to grab something to eat, the door to the room creaked open again; Lucy and Freddie both looked up and saw Lily, who just stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"So," She mumbled, not looking up at her sister. "How...um..."

Freddie looked between the two red-heads and stood up awkwardly. "Maybe I should leave you two alone for a minute? I'll just... You want something to eat, Lu?"

Lucy shrugged, eyes not leaving her younger sister. "Some blood beaters would be nice."

Neither of them spoke until Freddie had left; an awkward silence crept up between the two as they both tried to figure out what they could possibly say.

"So," Lily began again, moving closer to her older sister and trying to make more eye contact. "You're a mom now? Man, that's scary... _You_ as a mom." Lucy gave a small laugh at this, causing Lily to grin as she felt more comfortable. "It seemed like the little sucker would never pop out, you know: you were a pain in the ass for _months_."

"As if you aren't," Lucy shot back good-naturedly.

Lily sat down on the bed, eyes drawn to the bundle in her sister's arms. "So...Freddie said it was a boy. Is that true or did he become delirious and imagine the baby having a penis?"

"Classy," The older red-head rolled her eyes. "But yes. It's a boy."

"Right..." The human paused, hesitating before continuing on. "Does he have a name yet?"

Lucy nodded, smiling down at her baby again. "Yes. We were thinking 'Charlie' if it was a boy - Freddie's Dad was called Charles, but that's such a...well, it's kind of old-fashioned, so we agreed on Charlie instead."

Lily tilted her head and took a deep long look at the baby. "Huh. Yeah... I like it, if that makes any difference." Lucy grinned in thanks and even Lily managed to smile lightly. "He's gorgeous, Lu. Congratulations on having him."

Although there was definitely no spite behind what she'd said, it was clear to Lucy that Lily was somewhat resentful - it didn't take a genius to figure out why either. She sighed, giving her sister a sorry look. "Thanks," She mumbled. "I...well... If it makes you feel any better, Lils..." She took a deep breath. "You'd have made a really good Mom."

Lily smiled bitterly. "Yeah, right. Guess we'll never know, will we?"

"That's not true," Lucy insisted quietly, not wanting to wake the baby up. "I mean, there's so much you and Damien could do, right? There's always the chance that it _might_ happen naturally, a-a-and if it doesn't...well then maybe you could always...you know."

The human looked down at her lap, trying to hide the fact that there were tears in her eyes. "We've talked about it, but he's said that the only person he'd ever want to have a baby with is me; there's no way he'd just have a baby with another person, however nice they are."

"I guess that's understandable," Lucy admitted, feeling much worse about the whole thing; what was she meant to say now?

Luckily, Lily fidgeted and continued to talk. "Could I hold him? I won't steal him from you or anything, I swear."

"Of course," Lucy said sincerely - it was the least she could do, letting her sister hold a baby of some kind.

As her sister took her son into her arms carefully, Lucy could only watch with a sinking heart; there was no doubt about Lily being a good mother, judging by how much thought she was putting into holding him correctly, how much love there was in her eyes at seeing a tiny little being.

She could only hope that, one day, her sister got what she wanted because she honestly deserved it.


	10. Sam

It escaped no one's notice that Lily completely threw herself into the role of being an aunt immediately after her older sister had her baby - and, being honest, none of them could judge her on it. After being unable to have children herself, it seemed only right to let her at least be a loving and enthusiastic aunt.

And, boy, did she go for it.

"Hey!" Freddie greeted his wife, stooping to kiss her forehead affectionately. "So, where's Charlie?"

Lucy pointed across the hotel lobby; Lily was playing some kind of game involving wooden blocks and fluffy toys with said baby, making him giggle and squeal with excitement. Freddie gave a small chuckle and sat down next to Lucy so that he could watch with her.

"She sure likes playing with him."

"Well, he likes playing with her," Lucy said, shrugging to herself. "I'm not complaining, really - this teething phase is starting to make me go a little crazy, to be honest." She rubbed at her eyes tiredly. "I'm just glad to see her so happy."

Freddie put an arm around her, knowing that this was a difficult time for her right now; besides their son waking them up pretty much every evening before the Sun went down, Lily was edging closer to forty by this point and looked to be nearing Johnny and Mavis' age. It was yet another reminder as to how little time Lucy was going to have left with her sister - it was in no way easy to comprehend.

"She still has loads of time," He tried to assure her weakly. "Don't worry about it... I mean, remember what your Dad said? Humans can live to be ninety - some even reach a hundred or older! Forty is nothing compared to that."

Lucy sighed, nodding her head in an effort to agree with him. "I know, I know. Sorry, it's just...difficult."

Freddie looked at her before tucking her under his arm and giving her a loving squeeze. "You don't need to be sorry. I'm scared too."

* * *

By the time Charlie celebrated his thirtieth birthday, Lily was two months away from being fifty eight. It just didn't get any easier.

Although Lily seemed to love being an aunt (and no one could say that she didn't because, really, it was so obvious), it was also a well known fact that being an aunt and being a mother are completely different things and provoke different emotions. In short, it just wasn't the same.

That morning Lily was helping Lucy put Charlie to bed (by now, the little boy had grown quite opposed to going to bed and instead wanted to stay and look around the hotel every time they stayed) and it was only then that Lucy managed to get what she wanted to say said.

"You're so good with him," Lucy stated, looking quite relieved as Lily held the child against her; this seemed to calm him down and he was rubbing his head against her shoulder for comfort. "How come he does what you say but not what I or Freddie tell him?"

"Because you're not cool anymore," Lily joked. "Moms and Dads aren't cool - Aunts and Uncles are where it's at. Ain't that right, Charlie?"

Charlie grinned at his mother, showing off his fangs. "Nah-uh. Mommy and Daddy are a little cool - but you're the coolest, Auntie Lily."

"There you have it," Lily laughed, pressing a kiss to Charlie's head; of course, being the son of two red-heads, his hair was also red but luckily it seemed a lot tamer than Freddie's curls and instead lay on his head in little tufts. "Come on, birthday boy; you need to get some sleep so you can have a birthday next year as well."

Charlie pouted but allowed Lily to put him down. "Okay. I'll see you in the night, Auntie Lily." He pressed a wet kiss against the human's cheek before she left, and then he obediently lay down so that his mother could tuck him in. "Mommy?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

Lucy gave a laugh and shook her head at him. "I love you too, Charlie." She pressed a kiss against his forehead. "So, how's your birthday been tonight?"

Charlie nodded. "Good. The yeti girl I was playing with was nice, Mommy; she's from this place called ...uhmm...'tray...lee...ah..."

"You mean Australia?" Lucy prompted, quite amused, and he nodded again. "That's nice. And did you enjoy the party that your Great-Grandpa did tonight?"

He grinned. "Yup. Grandpa calls him Great-Gramps-Drac," He giggled.

Lucy rolled her eyes to herself; of course her father would do something like that - and, better yet, get her son to call Dracula that. "Yes, well...don't let him hear you call him that? Let's keep that a secret between you, me and your Grandpa."

 _I'm sure Mom doesn't want Dad being thrown off of the roof,_ She added to herself in her head.

Charlie looked up at her with sleepy blue eyes and bit his lip for a moment. "Mommy? You know how I get a birthday wish every year? Can I really wish for anything I want?"

"Of course," Lucy agreed immediately. "It's _your_ wish."

Charlie thought hard for a moment; every year it had always been things like wishing for candy or for his family to all be safe (and there was a lot of them, so he was sure that it took up a lot of wish power each year to use). But now he was getting a different wish in mind.

"Can I wish for two things to happen?" Charlie asked innocently. "Just two, I promise; I really, _really_ want them to happen."

"Sure," Lucy agreed, waiting to hear them. "What are they?"

The little boy took a deep breath and shut his eyes tightly; this was a birthday tradition that he and his mother shared, and he made sure to never waste it. Now he knew what he wanted to happen within the next year, it was more than easy to let it tumble out.

"I wish that I have a little brother or sister," Charlie started, causing Lucy to look at him in surprise. "But only if Mommy and Daddy want me to, because they said that babies are hard work. And I wish that my Auntie Lily and Uncle Damien can have a baby too, because Uncle Jack told me how much Auntie Lily really, really wants one - and I want her to be happy. The end."

When he opened his eyes, he looked at his mother expectantly.

"Was that okay?"

Lucy nodded, somewhat weakly. "Yes. That's...that's very nice of you to wish, Charlie... Did you say that your Uncle Jack told you that your Auntie Lily wants a baby?"

Charlie nodded too. "Yup. He was talking with this Mummy at my party and they were drinking this stuff - he even gave me a sip but it was gross! Then he said that Auntie Lily's sad because she can't have a baby. Is he right?"

_Jack, you are going to get it once he's asleep._

Putting thoughts of murdering her brother to the back of her mind, the red-head put a hand on her son's cheek so that she could stroke it gently. "Yes, it is."

Charlie smiled, satisfied. "Great! Now 'cause I wish she can have one, she'll have one, right? And she'll be happy and I'll be happy 'cause I'll get someone to play with!"

Knowing that there was no point in lying to him and causing distress this late in the night, Lucy gave a murmur of agreement. "Yeah, okay then. Come on, mister, you need some sleep."

* * *

"So?" Freddie asked once Lucy entered the room. "What's going on?"

She sent him a look. "How do you know?!"

"I dunno," He muttered, shrugging to himself. "Guess you just look...weird. Not like that!" He added hurriedly. "You look, like, you're thinking really hard. What's up?"

Knowing that it was best to try and be positive, Lucy sat down next to him and sent him a look of confusion. "He's onto us."

"Onto us?" Freddie asked, more confused than ever.

"Charlie wished for a baby brother or sister earlier," Lucy muttered. "It's like he knows that he's getting one somehow." When her husband just grinned, she allowed herself to smile too. "It's lucky he actually wants one, isn't it? I thought that he'd take it badly."

"Yeah, very lucky," Freddie agreed, wrapping his arms around her. "Let's just hope that he still thinks that when the baby actually comes."

* * *

That day was a peaceful one for sleeping; the rain had taken a break and now the nice spring air was starting to warm up even the coldest nights to some degree. There wasn't a monster that was stirring that day as everyone slept peacefully; the children in the hotel could be found holding toys and snoring gently with small smiles on their faces, the very picture of innocence.

That was until there was an ear-piercing scream about half an hour before the Sun had started to set.

Lily, who had actually begun to wake up already, jolted up in bed and looked around; even with her slightly weaker sense of hearing than a monster's, she could tell that it was coming from the hotel lobby. And, thanks to the amount of baby-sitting she had done for her older sister, she knew immediately that it was a child of some kind.

"What was that?" Damien asked groggily from next to her.

"I dunno," Lily replied, slipping out of the bed. "Stay here; I'll go and look."

Her first thought was that it was Charlie - that maybe he'd been sleep-walking or something - and she pulled on a jumper over her night (or rather, day) clothes before racing out of the room to get downstairs. Out of her and all of her family members, her room was located closest to the lobby, and thanks to her age, she wasn't exactly as agile as she had been thirty odd years ago; because of this, it was about five minutes later that she found herself stepping out of an elevator and into the lobby.

A few monsters - though none of them her family - were starting to arrive too, and it was only as she was gazing around the lobby that saw what exactly had been making that noise.

A small child was sitting with their back against the front desk, knees drawn up and making sobbing noises that made tiny shoulders shake.

"Oh my God," Lily muttered to herself, and she took a few steps closer to the child. "Hey there? Are you okay?"

It definitely wasn't Charlie, that was for sure; this child had short blonde hair for a start, and when they looked up it became immediately clear that it was a little girl with blue eyes. The little girl couldn't have been any older than Charlie - maybe a year or so younger - and it broke Lily's heart to see her crying like she was.

"Hey," Lily repeated, stooping down to get a better look at the girl - she tried not to wince as her legs creaked in protest. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

The girl just sniffled, drawing in on herself. It was clear that she didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, Damien was next to Lily - when she looked at him, he sent her a slightly strict look. "You really shouldn't be running around like that anymore, you know. I love you and all, but let's be honest, love; you're not getting any younger. You need to be more careful."

She ignored his as she stood up so that they were on the same level. "Just look at her."

He did so; Damien's eyes widened as he realized what was going on and he looked back at his wife in question. "Why is she done here? Where are her parents?"

Lily shrugged, looking back at the child. "I don't know."

Other monsters were starting to gather around; the little girl, realizing that she was being looked at, stuck her head up. Her face had tear tracks running down it, and for a minute one would think that she was about to cry again - but then she stuck out a little pink tongue and scowled suddenly.

"W-What're you l-looking at?" She asked, straightening up slightly.

Dracula stepped forwards - it appeared that he'd been awake earlier than everyone else too, as he was fully dressed in his suit and cape. "What the..." He coughed and composed himself before looking down at the little girl kindly. "Hello," He greeted, getting down onto one knee in front of her. "What are you doing down here?"

The girl tried to back away a little and held her head up high. "I...I don't know," She admitted. "My Mommy...She and my Daddy were down here... I got out of bed and came down here...a-and I was trying to catch up with them...but they flew away."

There was a gasp and some mutters from the crowd; the majority of them were looking shocked and disgusted by what this type of behaviour implied and they all looked around at each other.

"I see," Dracula told her calmly, trying to make sure that she didn't start crying again. "Did your Mommy or Daddy tell you anything at all? Perhaps leave a note?"

The girl wiped her nose on her pink long-sleeved pyjama shirt. "I-I think there's a note on the desk, b-but I can't read yet."

The Count just nodded in understanding and stood up to go behind the desk to have a look. Lily looked at Damien in worry and put her head on his shoulder. "I can't believe it," She whispered to him, and he trained his eyes on her. "Why would someone just abandon her like this?"

"You don't know that," Damien told her - but he also looked quite sick. "The poor kid."

Lucy, Freddie, Johnny and Mavis appeared beside Lily, looking at her in question - they had all clearly only just gotten downstairs. "What's going on?" Mavis asked quietly, seeing the little girl from the corner of her eyes.

Damien looked down at the girl sadly just as Jack and Mina joined their group. "We think that her parents...they left without her."

Mina, who managed to put the pieces together pretty quickly, looked horrified. "What?! She...She's a kid!"

"So are you," Jack muttered, trying to add some humour to the situation. "Until you start puberty, you're a kid." She stuck her tongue out at him but said nothing else.

After a minute or so of waiting, Dracula stepped out from behind the desk again and moved so that he could get in closer to his family. He looked down at the piece of paper in his hands gravely before looking around at all of them. "I found this," He said quietly, handing it to Mavis.

Mavis looked down at it, and everyone else looked over her shoulder to read it.

_To Whomever reads this,_

_I am honestly sorry for what we've done - it's for her own good, I promise._ _My husband doesn't know that I'm writing this, and I have to finish before he comes back to leave._

_My daughter, Samantha, is twenty-nine. Her birthday is January thirteenth, and he favourite food is pizza with mouse slices and scream cheese. When she wakes up, she will probably wonder where we've gone - she's blonde with blue eyes, and she is wearing pink pyjamas. I would like someone to give her a nice home - a nicer home than we can provide._

_My husband is not a nice man. For more background on the matter, I would like to say that he's not my zing - my zing is dead and was Samantha's father. I wanted her to have a father, so I married my current husband...It was only when we were married that I realized what he was really like._

_I can take him doing it to me, but not Samantha; I never thought that he would, but he has and I want to keep her safe. I could never leave him as I had nowhere to go - besides, I do love him deep down. This is why I agreed to his plan; to leave and not bring Samantha with us._

_He's always known that Samantha was not his - and he hates her because of that. That's why he wanted to leave without her; he doesn't want to start a family with a child that's not his own. Although I don't know for sure, I'm sure that an alternate plan so that he could start fresh would have been to kill her - something that I wouldn't have been able to go through with._

_Please tell Samantha that I'm sorry and that her Mommy loves her._

It appeared, however, that this woman's husband had seen the note - and rather than tearing it up, he'd left his own little addition to the bottom in bold ink.

_**There's a belt under the bed in our hotel room - use it on the brat if she starts trying to be smart.** _

Jack, the biggest bookworm in the family, finished first and let out a low whistle. "That's just..."

Lily looked between the letter and the little girl - Samantha - with tear in her eyes. "This bit at the bottom here... Does it really mean...?"

Mavis looked at Johnny, a tear stinging her eye. "How could anyone do that?"

Johnny put an arm around her, also looking greatly disturbed. "I have no idea." To him, a father figure was not like that at all: his father, while being a very manly and gruff man, had never laid a finger on him or his brothers - he'd always supported them and shown love. In fact, Johnny himself had tried to be as good a dad as his own had been, and the thought of actually hurting on of his own kids - even unintentionally - would have made him feel quite disgusted to the point of hating himself. How a man could ever do something like that... It was lucky for the other guy to have been gone already, since Johnny felt that he would have probably murdered him in a fit of rage or something.

"What do we do?" Lucy asked, looking at her grandfather.

Dracula sighed. "I don't know. I suppose we will have to call the Monster Council to come and pick her up - they'll have to place her with a family somewhere." He turned to all of the other guests, who were looking at him for an answer. "There's nothing to see here! Go back to your business!"

Freddie looked across the lobby at his son; Charlie was playing with a few of the other child guests, the only ones not interested in the whole ordeal. After he made sure that Charlie was occupied, he swallowed thickly and turned around to the rest of his family. "The council... They're gonna destroy her, placing her with people she doesn't know. Can't she just be with relatives or something?"

"There's no name on the bottom of the note," Jack reminded him. "We can't track down relatives without a name - besides, that's still the council's decision."

"And then what happens if no one wants her?" Lucy questioned, folding her arms. "They'll put her in a home or something, won't they? They exist, you know; I've heard about them, Jack, and they're _awful_."

Mina looked between her siblings and the girl on the floor before taking a deep breath; she moved forwards, causing Johnny's hand on her shoulder to drop back down to his side, and sat in front of the girl.

"So," She started, and the blonde just looked at her. "I'm Mina. You're Samantha, right?" Samantha said nothing. "I have a nephew who's your age... Rabies, I sound like an old woman, having a nephew!" She gave a small laugh to herself. "My brother Jack told me I was a late baby - that I was a bit of a surprise to my Mom and Dad. Now that's information I didn't need to know. Also, my older sister was nearly a teenager when I came along - when she had her baby she was, like, a hundred and thirty-two. Her husband, Freddie, is older you see..."

"Trust Mina to come to the rescue," Jack mused in a melancholy way before sighing again. "I feel so bad for that poor kid."

Lily bit her lip, contemplating something in her head. "Y-You know the council? They'll...you know...put her up for adoption, right?" Her brother nodded, clearly not catching onto what she was implying yet. "Well...maybe..."

Damien, however, knew her inside-out. "Lils," He said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're... Look at you. You can't take care of a kid anymore, not with you getting older now."

"But I wouldn't be alone," Lily insisted, almost in a begging way. "I'll have you, right?" He didn't answer and she took a deep breath. "You know that I wanted to have a baby, Damien."

"She's not a baby."

The human nodded in agreement. "I know. But she's...she's so young! She's just a kid!" She looked at Samantha, her eyes glistening slightly with unshed tears. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but maybe it's like this was _meant_ to happen; that one of the nights we're actually _here_ this happens..."

"Lily, stop," Her husband mumbled, not looking at her. "Look, we can't just adopt her - she's probably screwed up after what's happened to her. She won't want new parents to come and take her away!"

"We wanted a baby," Lily stated, looking at him fiercely. "That was one thing we agreed on."

"We wanted a baby of our own," He corrected. "She's not ours, Lily."

The red-head's bottom lip trembled slightly but she managed to keep her emotions held in for the time being. "She could be, if you just give her a chance." When he looked at her, she held her head up high in what he regarded to be her proud stature. "All of my family gave you a chance; doesn't she deserve one too?"

Damien swallowed the lump in his throat. "Lily...that's different."

"Are you saying that you won't love her because she's not actually ours?" She continued icily. "Because that just puts you on the same level as the guy in the letter - and that means I clearly don't know you."

"Of course not," He disagreed weakly. "I just... Look at you. You're a couple of years from being sixty: your dad said that sixty is old for a human, like a grandmother's age. You're getting older and..." He looked down at the floor to hide his face. "You won't be able to play and keep up with her...you'll never see her grow up."

Lily could tell that this was clearly distressing him; they usually didn't talk about the age thing, apart from when she brought it up in a few arguments here and there to try and suggest that somehow he...well, he didn't want to be with her anymore because it was honestly a worry of hers.

It upset Damien more than he admitted, that was sure.

"It's going to be fine," Lily told him in a hushed voice, putting a hand on his face and bringing him closer so that their noses were brushing against each other. "Damien, I want to do this, old or not. But I'm not doing it if you don't want me to - this is a joint thing, right? If you don't want to, then there's no point."

Damien looked at her before his eyes flitted across the room to Samantha, who was currently listening to Mina speak animatedly about stories she'd heard. Finally, in a hoarse voice, he said, "Well...I guess she _does_ look like she'd kind of be ours."

"Why, because of the blonde hair?" Lily joked, looking up at her zing's own blonde hair. "Yeah, completely... And did you see that little sassy sticking-out her tongue earlier? Come on, she's awesome."

Damien gave a low chuckle before looking back at her seriously. "Alright," He agreed quietly. "But just remember that it's the Council's decision in the end; we have to pass all of those crappy tests first."

"I can deal with that," Lily laughed lightly, wrapping her arms around him.

It was like a dream come true - granted, a few decades late, but nonetheless a dream come true.

* * *

Adoption processes in the monster world were nowhere as long as they were in the human world, as Johnny soon found out; within a couple of nights of the incident, the council were already considering his daughter and son-in-law as prospective parents.

"So, what now?" He asked when he saw Lily that evening. Mavis appeared next to him, also waiting anxiously for an answer as she clutched onto his arm.

Damien shrugged. "All good so far. They did a few background tests - you know, seeing that we weren't criminals or anything - and they want to put her with us for a couple of nights to see how she reacts to being around us."

"That's good, right?" Mavis asked, and she breathed in relief when Lily nodded.

Meanwhile, Lucy seemed stunned by what had happened; it was only when she was having breakfast with Charlie and Freddie that evening in the dining room that it clicked in her head - and then she was just looking at her son in awe.

"Charlie," She said quietly, and he turned to look at her; he had a few worms from his wormcakes wriggling out of the corner of his mouth and he hurriedly sucked them into his mouth before speaking.

"Yeah, Mommy?"

She grinned at him. "You wished...on your birthday..."

Charlie frowned for a few seconds before it hit him. "Oh!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Auntie Lily's going to have a kid now, isn't she?!"

"Well, she and Uncle Damien are going to look after a kid now, yes," Lucy agreed, and she reached to ruffle his hair. "That's what you wished for, isn't it?"

He nodded, looking quite proud of himself. "Yeah! Daddy, did you hear that?!" He asked loudly, looking up at Freddie and bouncing up and down in his seat. "Auntie Lily and Uncle Damien are getting to be a Mommy and Daddy because of me! 'Cause I wished for it with my birthday wish!"

"Yup!" Freddie grinned at him encouragingly. "That's cool, huh?" He paused, giving Lucy a small look. "Uhh... Did you wish for anything else?"

Charlie blinked before he remembered his other wish again. "Oh, yeah! I wished for a brother or sister!" He laughed to himself as he turned back to his wormcakes. "But that's not gonna happen."

"No?"

"Nuh-uh," Charlie continued, shaking his head. "'Cause Uncle Jack told me that there was no way that would happen."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, already getting a bad feeling about this. "Uncle Jack?"

"Yeah," Her son agreed, mouth full of food. "He tol' me tha' you and Daddy won', 'cause you didn' do the magic hug."

Freddie choked on his juice and Lucy nearly spat out her toast at those words. _Jack, you and I are going to have a very long talk about what you say while you're drunk...maybe a couple of bites will keep you reminded._

* * *

"So, this is Samantha," The tall flesh-golem woman in charge of the meeting introduced. "Samantha, this is Lily and Damien. Say hello to them."

Samantha looked up at the dully, tracing patterns on the table with her fingers. "Hullo."

"Right, well...I'll leave you three to get started," The woman decided awkwardly, nodding to Damien and Lily. "Take as much time as you need."

"Yeah, thanks," Lily muttered, trying to be polite. Once the woman was gone, she looked at Damien nervously. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."

Damien squeezed her hand tightly. "Of course it is. We just need to...take this slowly." He let go of her hand and took a step towards the table where the little girl was sitting. "Hey," He greeted, pulling up a chair so that he could sit opposite. "I'm Damien."

Samantha just looked at him silently as Lily took a seat beside him.

"So... You're Samantha," Damien continued, somewhat unsurely. "That's a pretty cool name; it's pretty and cool, actually..." He looked at Lily and gestured to her. "This is my wife, Lily."

Lily awkwardly raised a hand as a way of drawing attention to herself. "Hey there, Samantha."

Still nothing from the girl. Damien took a deep breath before starting to speak again. "You actually met Lily's sister at the hotel; her name's Mina. You know, the one who was talking about all those adventures their dad went on? Yeah, well, Lily is her sister; they're actually pretty close."

That was half true, really; while they were close, Lily had actually grown closer to Lucy as she aged - she supposed it was one of those things that was bound to happen as she grew up early.

"What do you like, Samantha?"

Samantha looked up at him, resting her cheek on her hand. "Don't call me Samantha."

Damien raised an eyebrow at his. "Why? That's your name, isn't it?"

"I don't like it," She told him firmly. "It's a stupid name." She looked down at the table, as if not wanting to admit something. "Look, I just...I want people to call me Sam - it's so much cooler than 'Samantha'."

And then, suddenly, she flinched. It occurred to Lily that she was probably expecting a blow or something to strike her, and her heart caught in her throat.

Damien also noticed and tried his best to not wince. "Okay then - we'll call you Sam if you want."

Sam looked up, intrigued as she cast her eyes between the two of them. "O-Okay...great...thanks." She hunched her shoulders. "My Daddy didn't like that; he said that I can't be Sam, 'cause Sam's a boy's name." She gave a tiny shiver. "He asked me if I was a boy and I told him no - 'cause I'm not, and I don't really want to be 'cause they suck. No offence," She added, giving Damien a fleeting look. "And then he'd...well..." She stopped talking. "I'm not allowed to talk about it."

Lily put an arm on Damien's shoulder and shook her head - a signal to let her speak. He sat back and nodded at her, letting her take control; it was clear that maybe this girl wasn't really in the mood for new fathers just yet.

"That's fine," Lily said softly, feeling nothing but sorry for the child in front of her. "If it helps, my Grandpa always used to call me names I didn't like - and he'd do it in front of all of his friends too so that I was embarrassed." She smiled to herself as she remembered some of them. "When I was little, he called me 'Lily-bear' for some reason. Guess it's just one of those things."

Sam's lips twitched a little, a sign she was wanting to smile but wasn't allowing herself to yet. "My Mommy used to call me "Samantha the Panther", 'cause I was always climbing trees and stuff... I'm real fast too." She looked at the two adults properly before frowning to herself. "I...can I..."

"Go ahead," The red-head assured her, nodding.

Sam took a moment to gather her thoughts together. "You and your...husband...you look...I mean, I don't know..."

Ah. There it was. Lily nodded again, this time in agreement. "Yes, you're right," She said, giving Damien a slightly sad look. "I wasn't always older than him, you know." She shrugged, trying to let it go. "It's fine now. It's because I'm human, though - but not the kind that hurts others!" She added quickly at the terrified look on Sam's face.

Damien jumped back into the conversation hurriedly. "Yeah, don't worry!" He assured her. "Lily's Mom and Dad - and brother and sisters - are all monsters. She's just...the special case."

Lily rolled her eyes at him. _Really? Special case?! Thanks._

Sam nodded once, still looking quite wary. "Okay." She looked over them both, cocking a brow after a few seconds. "Are you here to be my new Mommy and Daddy? I don't want a new one. I...I want mine."

 _Good God, we must look evil at the moment to her - sweeping in to take her away so quickly,_ Lily thought.

"Look, you're both nice and all," Sam continued, voice surprisingly steady. "But you're not my Mommy and Daddy; my Mommy had blonde hair and blue eyes, like me, and my Daddy was big and fat." She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the table angrily. "I don't want my Daddy or any Daddy - they're mean and they hurt people."

Lily opened her mouth to say something (what, she didn't know) but Damien beat her to it. "I know," He said simply, causing both of the girls to look at him. "My Dad was like that too."

 _What on Earth?!_ Lily sent him a look, wondering why he'd never told her - she would have thought that something like that would have been a pretty important one to mention when you're married.

"But I'm not here to be your Daddy," Damien continued, voice going quiet and soft - the only time it ever did was around people he cared about or children. "And Lily's not here to be your Mommy either. You already have those, and that's cool - we understand that. We just... We want to look after you."

Sam gave him a wide-eyed stare. "But... Why? What about your kids?"

Damien looked at Lily sadly as he replied. "We don't have any. We want them but...we can't have them."

The blonde child looked between the two. "Oh...oh..."

"We want to adopt you," Lily told her, somewhat nervously. "We want to take care of you - we saw you in the hotel lobby and..." She hesitated before continuing. "We didn't want to adopt, you know; that didn't seem right. But then we saw you in the lobby, and we talked about it..."

Sam was silent for a moment, looking utterly astonished by this piece of information. "You really want to look after me?"

"Yeah," Damien said sincerely. "But only if you're okay with that, Sam."

Sam paused, looking at the couple in front of her seriously. "If you do," She stated seriously, although there was a definite worry in her voice. "Do I have to call you Mommy and Daddy?"

"Not unless you want to," Lily promised - and she meant it. Sure, someone calling her, 'Mommy' would have been sweet and all, but just getting to look after her would have been enough.

The blonde girl stared at them for another few seconds: and then she started to grin. "You mean it?" When they both nodded, also starting to smile, she laughed. "Awesome! Can I tell that creepy lady that I wanna live with you? Is that how it works?"

Yes, the future certainly looked bright.

* * *

_This certificate is to officially certify that on February 28th 2183, Damien and Lily Stoker adopted the child now known as Samantha Stoker (D.O.B: 13/01/2154, according to documents left by the birth mother). They are to have full custody of her and assume the role of her parents in her upbringing._

There were names signed on the bottom from the Monster Council and then the adoptive parents themselves - it was legal and official in every way.

This document hung in the hallway of the Stoker home, proudly on display for all to see - a reminder of a truly amazing event in all of their lives.


	11. Aging

There were good nights, there were bad nights; short nights that went by too quickly and nights that seemed to last forever.

That night was a particularly rough one.

The Sun had started to rise, signalling the beginning of the morning, and so Lily and Damien were in bed and - well, for lack of better words - quite enjoying each other's company. It didn't matter that they'd been married for over a decade by this point, it was thrilling for both of them to make their bodies nothing more than a mess of roaming hands, soft lips and heaving chests with skin on skin, the heat rising.

Damien's favourite way to spend the end of the night - after all, he was a hundred and forty-five, a vampire in his prime, and it was with someone that he loved and cared for deeply.

There was something that kissing Lily did to him: it was a spark or something that ran through his body, like electricity, and it ignited his soul. This time was no exception, or course, and it wasn't long until things became rather heated between the two of them.

As he always did when things got heated, Damien slowly moved his hand underneath his wife's pyjama shirt so that he could cup her breast.

"No."

Damien had grown up by this point, he really had: he understood that boundaries were there, even in long-term relationships, and that when Lily said, 'no', she meant it. He knew not to push her into anything and that he had to respect her.

But this was odd.

"Hold on," He muttered, pulling away and frowning down at her. "What's the matter?"

Lily wriggled underneath him uncomfortably but kept her arms wrapped around him tightly. "Nothing! Well, I mean, I just...can I..." She dropped her eyes from his, suddenly ashamed. "You don't want to put your hand there, trust me."

Damien blinked, not understanding. "I hate to be crude but I _do_ want to put my hand there - and you usually want me to as well."

She went bright red, still not looking at him directly. "I'm not... _fit_ anymore." When he just stared at her, she elaborated quietly, "I haven't done dance since...well, since we started trying to have kids... And I'm getting old."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at her, not sure if she was being serious. "Lily, you know that I don't care-"

"But I do," She insisted, moving to sit up. "Look at me and look at you; look at how _young_ you are still! And then there's me...I look _older_ than my parents for crying out loud!" She scowled to herself. "You're still so attractive and...and I'm not."

Damien felt his heart drop to his stomach and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Don't be stupid, Lils; you're still as gorgeous as the day we met."

"People stare, you know," Lily continued, starting to fiddle with her wedding ring absent-mindedly. "You don't need vampire hearing to hear them talk about us; how 'scandalous' it is that a woman at my age is with a guy as young as you."

The blonde narrowed his eyes at the thought of others saying these things. "Well, fuck them. Does it matter what they all think? It's none of their God damn business!"

Lily shrugged. "I'm just saying that if you wanted to, you know, find someone else then I understand."

 _No._ "No," He stated firmly, his grip tightening on her. "Lily, you're my zing; I don't _want_ anyone else and I don't think I will after...after you." It pained him to think what might happen once Lily was no longer around so he put it to the back of his mind. "Why would I ever wanna leave? What's wrong with you and how you look?"

"Don't pretend to not know," She muttered, rolling her eyes at him. "Grey hair, wrinkles... My boobs aren't firm and perky anymore, my stomach is bigger and...and I just look _fat_."

Never in his life had Damien considered Lily to be 'fat' or any other word with the same meaning; when she'd been younger she had been a dancer and, really, all of that dancing had made her the opposite of fat. And when she had given that up when they had first started talking about having a baby, he'd decided that it didn't matter what she looked like: while it was nice that she was very fit and attractive, it was really her personality that he found to be his favourite feature.

Hearing her say that made as much sense to him as the legendary Frankenstein going near fire.

"Stop it," He told her seriously, frowning slightly. "That's stupid and you know it." When she just stared at him incredously, he gestured for her to lie down and didn't talk until she had done so. "First of all, your hair is not grey just yet so stop worrying about that. Second," He leaned down and brushed his lips against Lily's neck.

Lily jumped. "Oh! What are you-"

"For forty on a human, I don't think you look too bad," Damien continued, words nothing more than a whisper against her skin, and continued to move downwards. "Now, your boobs... Holy crap, Lily, I _like_ them - hey, don't give me that look! I'm a guy, okay? It's natural." He kissed down her neck and against her chest. "You know, if you want me to stop then I can."

Lily shook her head. "N-No! Carry on!"

He grinned to himself as he pushed himself up to hover over her. "I love _you_ ," He stated honestly. "Not your body, not your looks - _you_. I knew what I was getting myself into when we got together and I don't care - if I did, then I wouldn't have asked you to marry me. That's quite a big commitment, you know."

"Huh," The human smiled sheepishly at him. "I suppose that's true."

Damien pressed his mouth down on her pressure point, his fangs brushing against the delicate skin just barely containing a pulse. Lily hissed softly, immediately grabbing at his back to pull him closer. "I love you, Lily, and I don't care if you become the most wrinkled lady in the world with a severe case of Alzheimer's - nothing is gonna make me leave."

Any arguments had gone from her head by this point, and they wasted no time in shedding their clothes.

* * *

No one wants grey hairs - but all the same, it wasn't easy seeing your daughter getting grey hairs before you did yourself - and then seeing wrinkles appear on a face that you knew was younger on your own was nothing short of a nightmare.

It was happening - Mavis' worst dreams were starting to become a reality.

The nightmares came back just after Lily's sixtieth; before, Mavis had been able to brush it off as her daughter just aging but no so much that she should be worried. But when she visited her daughter for her birthday that April, she couldn't deny it any longer no matter how hard she tried.

Lily's once vibrant and red hair - her _beautiful_ long hair - was now nothing more than a mop of light grey and cut short so that it was easier to deal with in her old age. Once bright brown eyes - ones that Mavis could remember looking at her inquisitively - were now tired and faded with age.

And then there was her skin.

Oh God...it made Mavis want to cry when she compared the younger version of Lily's face to the current older one; Lily had once had pale - but not unhealthily so - skin with rosy cheeks, freckles dotted across her face that she'd inherited from Johnny and there were hardly any blemishes - Lily had been one of the few who had gotten spots in other places rather than her face.

But now it was horribly changed: sunken and sallow skin, wrinkles, the general colour a sickingly pale white that one would associate with being ill.

Before the sun set the next evening, Johnny was woken up by the sound of muttering and sobbing next to him; it took him about two seconds who realize that it was Mavis, and he hurriedly put a hand on her shoulder so that he could shake her awake.

"Mavis...come on..."

She gave a small cry. "No...all my fault...no!..."

 _Ah hell._ Johnny shook her harder. "Mavis! Come on, Mavy, wake up! It's only a dream!"

The bedroom door opened and Mina took a step into the room, dressed in a pair of red and dark blue bat pyjamas. "What's going on?" She asked, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Why is Mom crying?"

"She's...uh...having a bad dream," Johnny told her, frantically shoving his wife in the shoulder to wake her up. "Mavis, it's not real! Wake up!"

Mina took a step closer, suddenly looking intrigued and worried. "Mom?"

Mavis' eyes opened and she suddenly wrapped her arms around Johnny so that they were close; she was clearly still half-asleep or still in a dream as she was muttering and crying again.

Mina sent her father a nervous look and sat down on the edge of the bed to see what would happen. The red-head started to rub at Mavis' back in circles and whisper to her soothingly. "Hey, what's the matter? It's not real, Mavy..."

Mavis shook her head in an almost violent way. "I-I-It is...It's all my fault! I...I did this to h-her!"

It didn't take a genius to realize who 'her' was. Mina moved in closer and wrapped her arms around her mother for comfort. "Mom, don't say that..."

"It's not your fault," Johnny told her, voice somewhat shaky. "Don't...Don't even think that, okay?"

"It is!" Mavis argued firmly, pulling back to look at him. "D-Didn't you see her?! What she looks like?... If I hadn't... she wouldn't..."

Johnny looked at Mina for a second in an almost pleading way. "Why don't you go back to bed, cutie? Try and get some more sleep."

The girl bit her lip, clearly not wanting to, but nodded anyway. "Okay. I'll see you in the evening then."

Once she had gone, Johnny turned back to the matter at hand. "Look," He started calmly, giving his wife a small frown. "There's no need to get so upset, Mavis. Sixty is not that old for a human, okay? Most humans can live to be well over a hundred without any problem."

"Look at her, Johnny," Mavis said fiercely, shaking her head. "Look at what _I_ did to her!"

" _You_ didn't do anything to her," He replied firmly, believing everything he said. "I mean, apart from love and care for her, neither of us have done anything to her."

"I did it!" Mavis stated, looking close to crying again. "I...You know what I did, and now Lily is being punished for it! For _my_ mistake!" She looked down, curling in on herself as the tears started to roll. "It's all my fault, Johnny; every time I see her I just remember what I did and how unfair it is that _she_ has to suffer... She's not going to live much longer, a-a-and it's a-all my fault!"

Johnny wrapped his arms around her, shaking his head surely. "No, Mavis, it's not! I swear! You... When you did what you did it was out of love, a-and anyone would have done it. If you hadn't done it, then Lily wouldn't have gotten to be with us at all." When Mavis just shook her head at his words, he continued on. "Look, every day that we've spent with her has been awesome and I'm so glad that I've - _we_ 've - gotten the chance to be with her."

"But-"

"But nothing!" The red-head insisted. "My mom always told me that short things are better than no things...well, kinda. When she said that she was talking about when I complained about short straws at my birthday party once, but that's not the point!"

Mavis wiped her eyes and looked at him anxiously. "So...So you don't hate me for what I did, right?"

"Wait, what?!" _Is she going insane or something?!_ "Why the heck would I hate you?!"

His wife ducked her head, as if embarrassed, but answered anyway. "Because of what I did... Going behind your back and making that deal with that witch so that...you know..."

"No," Johnny answered surely, eyes still wide from what she had said. "No, Mavy, of course not. Look, at first I was pretty upset but only 'cause we didn't talk about it first, but that was sixty years ago." He waited until she was done wiping at her tear-stained face before continuing. "Second, why would I hate you for having Lily? She was..." He swallowed thickly - after all, men weren't to get too emotional about these kinds of things but he did anyway - and reached across to the bedside table for the picture of Lily as a baby that they kept there. "Look at her; she was - is - one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Why would I hate you for that?"

Mavis didn't answer.

"You need to stop blaming yourself for it," Johnny told her softly, putting the photo into her hands and watching as she looked down at it. "I don't blame you, and I know that _she_ doesn't either - why should you?"

As Mavis looked down at the photograph of Lily - because Lily had been human, she'd been able to appear in photographs and so they'd taken the opportunity to use a camera for these memories - she tried to get Johnny's words through to her head; to try and let go off the guilt inside of her head.

It didn't all go away, of course, but it eased enough for her to give a small smile at the photograph; looking at it, she could still see the similarities between the baby and her now elderly daughter easily...

It was that smile - that carefree smile - that made her feel calm: if Lily could still smile so innocently and happily, then she was clearly far from upset by her situation.


	12. Sick

No sick child was pleasant, to say the least; one of the perks of being a monster was that if you were sick then you usually healed up faster and spent no more than a day or two suffering.

Lily, however, was not a monster and so suffered more terribly when she got sick.

Shortly after Lily's fifth birthday, she had contracted a bug that caused her tonsils to swell up, her temperature to rise, a nasty cough to develop and her nose to become blocked. In short, she was a very miserable five year old for the next week and did little more than lying in bed or on the couch as she was sleeping off the sickness.

But then again, she learnt that there did appear to be _some_ good to come out of being really ill.

For one thing, she was allowed to watch whatever she wanted on the television; usually she was forced to watch whatever her siblings wanted since she was the youngest and therefore had to do whatever they wanted - but her being sick made them soften up, and the human girl soon got to watch whatever movies she wanted.

And best of all, none of them could complain.

Mina, being a vampire's equivalent to her sister's age, didn't complain too much anyway; in fact, she seemed more than happy to sit with her little sister underneath a warm blanket as they cuddled and watched animal and princess movies."

At first, Lucy had also complained somewhat - but then she'd also given in and joined her sisters underneath the blanket, deciding to be young again and watch movies that she hadn't seen in what seemed to be forever ago.

"Oh, I like this one!" She exclaimed loudly as the opening credits to _The Little Mermaid_ started. "See? Dad used to say I looked like her!"

Mina gave a laugh. "Only 'cause you have red hair - but Daddy says that I'm always gonna Snow White, so you can be Ariel I guess. What about you, Jack?"

Jack, on the other hand, was not partial to Disney's Princess movies - sure, the ones about animals were bearable, but princesses? No, definitely not his thing. "First of all," He started dryly, looking up from his book and at his sisters. "I'm a guy, so there's no way in Hell that I'm a Princess of any kind. Second of all... Do I even need to explain why I don't like Princess movies?"

Lucy rolled her eyes at him. " _Sure_. So you didn't like it when Dad put on _Beauty and the Beast_ and let you sit in his lap?" Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "And you definitely weren't the one crying when the Beast got stabbed, right?"

"Shut up," Jack muttered lowly as Mina and Lily giggled to themselves. "Yeah, okay, laugh to yourselves, but I was younger than Mina, for crying out loud!"

"What about the others?" Mina asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Like the ones without the princesses?"

Their brother shrugged, looking somewhat sheepish. "Well, I guess those aren't all that bad..." He allowed. "Especially not _Tarzan_ or _Finding Nemo_."

"Oh, I love that movie!" Lucy agreed, nodding her head and grinning. "I remember watching it with Mom and Dad... Heh, Mom started crying, and Dad said it was because it was the first time she'd seen it."

Jack grinned as well as he rolled his eyes. "Mom cries at most Disney movies; do you remember when Dad told us about the first time he showed her some movies when they were in Hawaii? He said that she started crying at _Up._ "

"Everyone cries at _Up,"_ Mina dismissed. "Anyway, shut up you two, 'cause _The Little Mermaid_ is on."

In the end, Jack ended up on the couch with his sisters and watching the movies with them (even the Disney ones, much to their amusement).

Another great thing to come out of being ill was having near-constant attention from her parents - and with that came more ice-cream, kisses, cuddles and bedtime stories being read to her. So, yes, it wasn't all that bad having family doting on her.

"I wi'h I coul' read," Lily muttered to herself, pouting as she curled up next to Johnny on the couch one evening after breakfast. "Jack's busy, Lucy is ou' wit' Fre'ie and Mina can' read much either."

"I can read," Johnny muttered, acting somewhat offended. "Am I not good enough?"

Lily gave a tiny giggle and shrugged. "I 'unno: Ja' tol' me he woul' read to me, bu' he can'." She gave a noisy cough that warranted a few thumps on the back from her father before sitting back in her seat again. "I ha'e bein' ill," She mumbled miserably.

"Yeah, no one likes it," Johnny agreed, sending her a small knowing grin. "You're tough though: you'll be better in no time, kiddo."

Lily gave a sniff as he ruffled her hair. "I be'er be," She said seriously. "I don' wanna be ill an'more, Dad'y; the'e's no'hing to do an'more." She gave a grumble before looking up at him. "Can you pu' a movie on?"

Johnny shrugged - he wasn't doing anything better, so why not? "Sure," He agreed, standing up to go and do so. "What movie do you want then, Lils?"

"Don' min'."

 _Ahh, she's so ill she doesn't even care. Hopefully that means she can only get better from now on._ "Let's see," Johnny hummed, scanning the DVDs near the television. "When I was sick, my Mom and I used to always watch _Peter Pan_...or we could watch _One Hundred and One Dalmations_ , that's always a cool one..."

Johnny trailed off to look over his shoulder at his daughter; she had fallen asleep already, mouth half-open and blanket clutched tightly around herself.

The red-head smiled to himself - as much as he loved watching movies, it was far cuter to see his daughter sleeping (even when she was ill). "It's okay," He muttered, half to himself and half to Lily. "We'll do it later."

* * *

Lily was seventy-nine (nearly eighty) when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It had been nearly eighty years of love, laughter and growing up; of a family, of children, of love in so many different forms...and now it was all going to disappear.

At first it wasn't anything too bad; Sam would ask Lily to tuck her in, Lily would agree, and Sam would wait. Half an hour would pass before Sam re-appeared in the Living Room, only to see her mother figure still sitting in a chair and reading or talking to Damien.

"Uhh...Lily?" Sam would say cautiously, causing both Damien and Lily to look at her. "You said that you were going to tuck me in."

Lily would frown, mouth pressed in a thin line. "Did I? I don't remember... Come on, I'll do it now."

At first it wasn't a big deal; it was only when she started to forget more often and forget more important things that she decided it would be best to see a doctor of some kind. The turning point was Sam's birthday the January before Lily's eightieth, and it was clear that she couldn't continue.

"Happy Birthday, kiddo!" Damien exclaimed when Sam walked into the kitchen that evening. "So, what does the birthday girl want for breakfast?"

Sam grinned, showing off her few missing teeth that she'd lost recently. "Wormcakes! Johnny and Mavis always make them for me when I stay at theirs, and they're awesome!"

Up until that point, Lily had been sat at the table eating her own breakfast and drinking some tea (something she'd switched to lately since she could no longer stand coffee); when Sam sat next to her, she looked up from her food and frowned.

"G' Morning, Lily!" Sam greeted excitedly. "Guess how old I am now!"

Lily looked at Sam, still frowning, and suddenly the blonde vampire child had the idea that something bad was happening.

"I'm fifty-one," She added quickly, fearing that the human wasn't quite as able at maths as she used to be.

Damien seemed to notice Lily's silence as well, and he bent down to look at his wife worriedly. "Lily?..."

"I don't know you," She muttered, still looking at Sam with wide eyes. "Who are you? I...Why are you in my house?"

Sam looked surprised but continued on anyway. "Lily, it's me. Sam! You know, you adopted me, like, twenty years ago? What's wrong?"

"I don't remember," Lily stated, still staring at Sam hard. "I...no, I don't remember you. Damien, who is she? Why is she here?" She seemed to shrink in her chair. "She's not going to hurt me, is she?"

Sam looked so hurt that Damien knew he had to do something. "Sam, maybe you should go and get dressed before breakfast..."

"Who are you?!" Lily snapped, looking absolutely terrified. "I don't know you! Go away, get out!"

The older blonde vampire picked the child up out of her chair quickly. "Alright, alright... Sam, can you just wait in the living room? Here," He started when he reached the desired room, and he put her down. The look on her face almost broke his heart, it honestly did. "You know how to use the phone, right? Maybe you could call Charlie's house, see if he wants to come round to play."

Sam bit her lip. "What's the matter with Lily?" She asked, and to his surprise she wasn't actually crying - in fact, she was remaining remarkably calm considering the situation going on around her. "How come she doesn't know who I am anymore?"

"Uhh...I don't know," Damien admitted. "I'm going to go and sort things out with her now, though, and I just need you to stay here."

Sam hesitated but nodded. "Okay. Hey, if Charlie comes around, can we have pizza for dinner?"

"I'll think about it," The older vampire agreed before heading back to the kitchen - what he was going to say to his wife, he honestly had no idea.

Back in the kitchen, Lily was still sitting at the table; her head was bowed low, and it became apparent to Damien that she was crying due to the sniffles he could hear. "Lily," He said slowly, taking the seat next to her where Sam had been minutes ago. "What's going on?"

Lily looked up at him. "I... Where's Sam?" She asked helplessly. "I remember now, I do, I swear but... But I forgot who she was, just for a minute... I...I don't know why, b-but now I remember a-and I'm fine again."

Damien had been putting off the inevitable for years, he really had; he took at look at his human wife, who was crying and shaking her head uselessly to herself, and saw that she was no longer the woman she used to be. Her looks weren't important to him, and that wasn't what he could see now as he looked at her...

She was slipping away mentally now as well; that clever spark was fading, memories disappearing and the things that made Lily the woman he loved were fading away.

"Damien? Please talk to me!"

Damien swallowed the lump in his throat; he hadn't wanted to consider it a possibility that she would disappear like this, but now he had no choice.

"We need to go to a doctor."

A few weeks later, the results were in; Lily had Alzheimer's - an incurable disease that would stay with her until death and get worse as time progressed.

* * *

By the last stage of Lily's life, one would not have recognized her; her Alzheimer's had progressed to an advanced stage and left her bed-ridden at the age of eighty five, unable to do much but sit there and look around.

It was heart-breaking for Johnny and Mavis to see: they knew, thanks to both Johnny's knowledge from being human and Jack's research, that it wouldn't be long now until she passed.

Because of this, they had wanted to take her back to their home, where she'd grown up, and spend time with her before it was too late - but Damien was insistent that she stay where she was.

"She can't even walk anymore," He told them, rubbing at his eyes to hide his tears. "How the hell are you gonna get her to your place?"

Mavis looked away, also in tears but being unable to hold them in. Johnny put an arm around her and looked at their son-in-law tiredly. "She's our daughter. No disrespect, man, but...maybe it's better if she stays with us."

"No parent should have to deal with something like this," Damien argued firmly. "Look, I've been taking care of her for the best part of a year now and moving her might cause her to get upset or something... She can't remember a thing, you know. She barely remembers who I am, you know... Yesterday she saw my wedding ring and started asking who the lucky lady was." His eyes watered and he wiped at them fiercely. "I can't just...let her go..."

They understood - and that was why Johnny and Mavis ended up moving temporarily into the Stoker household. Since Mina was a hundred and sixteen, so therefore not a small child needing attention, she had decided to stay with Lucy and Freddie until...well, it was all over. After a couple of weeks of this arrangement, Sam was sent to stay with Jack (he lived alone and therefore had more than enough room - besides, Sam seemed to like the idea of staying over at his) - this was purely because Damien didn't want her to see Lily so ill.

Taking care of someone with Alzheimer's Disease was, in short, difficult and upsetting; most days, Johnny and Mavis would sit with Damien and help him take care of their daughter in any way they could. It pained all of them to see just how co-dependent on others the human had become; she couldn't even feed herself anymore...and then there was the issue of cleaning her up. Lily had gotten so bad that she'd lost of most of her bodily functions - including waiting to get to a toilet.

On the one hand, none of them wanted to see her go - but on the other, they also didn't want to see her suffer like this for much longer.

One evening, Damien had to go and see Sam (after all, he couldn't just leave her without any word on how Lily was doing) and so Johnny and Mavis were left in charge of caring for their daughter. To say the least, it was a very upsetting night for the two of them and they decided it would be best to try and get through it together - a testament to how strong their zing was.

"She looks so peaceful when she sleeps," Mavis observed quietly, putting her head on Johnny's shoulder as they sat down on some chairs near the bed. "It's almost like none of this happened...you can still see her as a baby when she sleeps."

Johnny gave a small nod. "Yeah... Mavis? You do know that..." He hesitated cautiously. "That she probably hasn't got all that long left, right? My Grandpa died after having it for seven years and his body just...it shut down."

"I know," She said, closing her eyes. "What I don't know is what we're going to do after that happens; how we'll get through it." She gave a small sniffle, clearly wanting to cry but not allowing herself to - it was not the time nor the place in that moment. "Eighty-five years...and she'll just be gone, Johnny, like she was never even here."

"Don't think like that, Mavy," Johnny tried to assure her but not sounding too calm himself. "Of course we'll remember her; I mean, we have pictures and stuff, right? And..." He paused. "And we'll always remember her, you know?"

Yes, Mavis knew, but that didn't make it any easier on anyone involved.


	13. A New Chapter

"Mom, I'm sixteen for crying out loud!"

"I know."

"Then why can't I go out tonight? That guy from the hotel, Jake, invited me to this party-"

"And that's why I'm saying no," Mavis stated dryly. "A party - that probably means alcohol, right?" Lily gaped at her mother, and Mavis rolled her eyes to herself. "Hey, don't look so surprised - I was a teenager once, you know."

Lily blinked and stopped gaping in shock. "You never _went_ out to parties though...Grandpa kept you in the hotel until you were a hundred and eighteen!"

"I still knew what went on," Her Mom dead-panned seriously. "I overheard lots of guests my age making plans back then - and then I occasionally flew out to the forest to look at what went on." When her daughter just continued to stare at her, she shrugged. "I would have joined in but...well...your Grandpa would have noticed if I'd been gone for too long."

Lily shook her head, trying to turn this conversation around so that it would go right for her. "Fine, I won't drink, Mom, I promise! Look, I swear on everything in the world that I won't drink _any_ alcohol while I'm there-"

Mavis shook her head. "I don't want you drink anything at one of their parties, Lily - do you know why that is?"

The red-head folded her arms grumpily. "Because it's all monster stuff and my body probably won't tolerate it? Yeah, fine then: I won't drink _anything_ they give me, _at all_." The teenager nodded to herself and began to turn away. "Okay, thanks for the advice, Mom-"

"I never said you could go," The dark-haired vampire interrupted, not even looking up from her magazine.

Lily turned around again and gave a loud groan. _"Mom_!" I'm not a baby anymore, so stop treating me like one!" She huffed and started to pace the living room floor. "Why can't I go? What's the worst that could happen? Nothing would, I'm telling you - maybe back when you and Dad were young, like, hundreds of years ago something would happen, but not anymore."

Mavis sighed and finally lifted her eyes from her magazine. "Lily, I'm not arguing about this. Maybe another night you can go out to a party, but not tonight."

Lily pressed her lips into a thin line and let out another huff. "Fine. _Fine._ I'll just sit here and be bored for the rest of my life - at least it won't be too bad, right?"

"Lily-"

"I mean," She continued testily, turning away from her mother. "Lucy and Jack and Mina...they all have to wait hundreds of years - I've only got to wait seventy years to die and get out of here, right?"

Ignoring the hurt look on her mother's face, the human stormed away to her bedroom - but she wasn't backing down, not just yet.

* * *

In true rebellious teenager spirit, Lily snuck out later that evening through her bedroom window: she met Jake outside, as promised, and they set off into the forest for the outdoors party taking place. Sure, she felt a little guilty for breaking rules - but, hey, she was a teenager: she had a right to rebel and have fun. It was like a rite of passage for every teenager, human or otherwise.

Although, having said that, she decided that she wasn't going to go as far as to drink anything offered to her - rebellious as she was trying to be, potentially poisoning herself seemed like a dumb idea that just wasn't worth it.

Being an outdoors party, it was a rather intimate affair: there was a fire in the middle of a clearing - the makeshift party area - and a boom-box of some kind blasting out music loudly. By the time she arrived to the 'party', there were many young monsters dancing around the fire and yelling joyously, clearly letting themselves loosen up.

And, for some reason, Lily felt quite worried - she suddenly felt guilty for going without her parents' permission, and for being so rude earlier on to her mother.

 _Stop it,_ She thought, scolding herself. _You're here now, there's no point in worrying - have some fun for a couple of hours._

However, this proved easier said (or rather thought) than done: every other teen at the party was a monster, leaving Lily to be the odd one out. Sure, at first some of those she'd never met before had mistaken her for a vampire, but then they'd get close enough to get a good whiff and...well, they seemed to no longer be comfortable with talking to her. Feeling quite alone and bored, the red-head sat down on a log that had been moved near the fire and watched the party continue on wordlessly.

A song started that Lily recognized but did not know the name of, and most of the teen-aged monsters cheered; they banged their bottles (it was some kind of monster beverage that, once again, Lily didn't quite want to risk trying) together and started to yell louder.

 _Take me to your best friend's house_  
Go around this roundabout  
Oh yeah!  
Take me to your best friend's house  
I loved you then and I love you now  
Oh yeah!

__Don't take me tongue tied_   
_Don't wave no goodbye_   
_Don't..._   
_Right!_ _

"Come on!" She heard Jake yell from beside her, and he grabbed her hand to pull her (as well as another female who had been on his other side, she noted) into the circle to dance.

_Take me to your best friend's house_   
_Normally we're making out_   
_Oh yeah_   
_Take me to your best friend's house_   
_I loved you then and I love you now_

_Don't take me tongue tied_   
_Don't wave no goodbye_   
_Don't..._   
_Right!_

Lily started to laugh as she bounced on the spot with all of the teen-aged party-goers; even though they weren't doing it in unison or anything, and it was mostly random, she felt rather warm and fuzzy inside - she was feeling a part of the group already. Feeling much more confident, she let go of her friend's hand and started to move around on her own accord: all of the things she'd learnt her dance lessons seemed to leave her head, and she just let herself go and relax.

_One, two, three, four_   
_Don't leave me tongue tied_   
_Let's stay up all night_   
_I'll get real high_   
_Slumber party; pillow fight_   
_My eyes on your eyes_   
_Like Peter Pan up in the sky_   
_My best friend's house tonight_   
_Let's bump the beats till beddy-bye_

_Don't take me tongue tied_   
_Don't wave no goodbye_   
_Don't take me tongue tied_   
_Don't kiss me goodnight_   
_Don't..._

As the chorus (well, what she supposed was the chorus) started up again, Lily started to sing and yell along with everyone else to the lyrics - it was hardly that difficult to pick up, as she soon discovered, since most of the lines seemed to repeat themselves. Once the song had finished and a new one came on, the feeling of euphoric youth and joy remained - it wasn't as strong as it had been when _that_ song had been playing, but it was still present in the air.

It didn't matter that Lily was probably going to be grounded for the rest of her remaining years for sneaking out (well, if she got caught that was), or that she was different to everyone else at the party due to her status as a human - she was a part of the group and just _so_ , _so_ happy to be alive.

* * *

Lily's time was up, Johnny and Mavis knew that; she was eighty-five, grey-haired and no longer the person she once was. It was time to say their goodbyes, while they still could.

They weren't the only ones to say their goodbyes: Lily's older siblings wanted to be there too. Despite Johnny and Mavis' objections, they were firm on being with their sister in her final moments.

So there they were: the five of them given some alone time with the daughter and sister they all loved so that they could say what they needed to. It didn't matter that she had lost her mind due to the Alzheimer's and therefore didn't remember them - they would all need the closure.

Johnny knew he had to be the man, and so went first. "Hey, Lils," He started hoarsely, determined not to start crying - Mavis didn't need to see him break down, and neither did their kids. Lily was silent, just watching all of them quietly with wide eyes. "So...So this is it, I guess." For once, he was at a complete loss for words: what could he say, knowing that he was losing his daughter? He took a deep breath as he tried to continue. "You probably don't remember anything...you probably don't remember me and your Mom...but we're gonna remember you forever, Lily."

From beside him, Mavis reached out and took his hand in hers; a sign of comfort, of strong support for her zing.

He squeezed back, swallowing the lump in his throat, and carried on with eyes glistening with tears. "I'm gonna love you forever, Lily: when you go up to Heaven or whatever, then maybe you'll get your memories back then... A-And we'll see each other again, right?"With that Johnny sat back in his seat and continued to sniff with unshed tears: he'd do his crying later, when it was just him and his wife.

Mavis knew that he was done and wanted to go next, she honestly did - but Mina beat her to it.

"Hey, Lily," She said nervously, looking rather pale and red-eyed. "I'm your big sister, Mina. Take it you don't remember me, right? Figures...middle kids don't get remembered much..." She tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. "Okay, enough of the lame jokes a-and stuff... Lily, you're my little sister - my only little sister. Before you came along, I was the little one...and when you grew up I was still the little one, w-which sucked bad but I could deal with it." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You know, I don't think I really understood when I was little what was going to happen to you: I thought that you'd get to be old and then...I dunno, spend hundreds of years looking like that. But that's not it, a-a-and I understand n-n-now what's g-going on..." Jack moved to put an arm around her but she shook her head at him. "No...I-I'm fine, I-I j-j-just..." Mina sighed and looked at her sister sadly. "I'm so, _so_ sorry t-that I never t-t-told you before, but I honestly do love you...a-a-and I w-w-wish y-you could stay..."

This time she allowed Johnny to wrap his arm around her; trailing off from her speech, Mina broke down and started to sob on her father's shoulders loudly. "I-I-I'm sorry! I-I just..."

"It's okay," He muttered, unable to help a couple of tears of his own being shed. "It's...We'll be..."

Lucy, who had not managed to keep it together at all, buried her face in her hands. "This is sick!" She sobbed quietly, shoulders shaking. "I-I-I can't do this! I can't s-s-sit here, a-a-and do this!" She looked at Johnny, and it suddenly reminded him of when she'd been nothing more than fifty years old with a scraped knee that needed the comforting touch of her father. "D-Daddy..."

"Come here," He managed, and he wrapped her in his arms too when she moved forwards.

Jack and Mavis looked at each other, wondering what to do now. Lily was staring at the exchanges as if watching a mildly amusing television programme, although she definitely did look somewhat sad (even if she couldn't remember them, she could see that these people were quite depressed for some reason).

"Hi, Lily," Jack managed to get out softly. "So...So I'm not gonna bore you and go on about how much we all love you, 'cause Mina and Dad have already done that... But I'm just gonna say..." He cleared his throat, shifting in his chair uncomfortably. "I remember you being a baby, Lily...like, a newborn and stuff. I didn't like babies much, to be honest: they're just not my thing...but you were okay." He smiled sadly at her. "Your first word was my name; despite Lu and Mina being all annoying and trying to force you to say their names, you said mine first. I guess I liked you even more after that, and I'm never gonna forget it...Ihelped pick your name, you know - I suggested it. 'Lily'..." He stopped for a moment, regaining his composure before carrying on. "I told Mom and Dad that I'd read somewhere in a book that people with that name touched the lives of those around them - and you have." He looked around at the rest of his family and gave another sad smile. "Not just us; guests at the hotel, Grandpa..." Jack paused and bit his lip. "Grandpa...he really does love you, Lils. But...But he can't be here to watch; he just can't deal with it. I mean, he's already lost Grandma Martha and stuff...plus, he's getting on a bit too...He couldn't face saying goodbye to another person."

This reminder made Mavis feel even worse: when she'd asked her Dad to come down with them a few nights previously, he'd declined. At first he hadn't told her why...but then what he admitted would never be forgotten to Mavis.

_"Dad! This is Lily! She's your granddaughter!" Mavis had growled down the phone, hurt by her father's words. "She's not going to be...around for much longer! Please, come and say goodbye to her..."_

_Dracula sighed from the other end of the line. "Sweet fangs, I...I can't. Please, don't try to make me: Lily will always hold a special place in my heart, you know that, and...and we shall see her again some day."_

_"She's your granddaughter!" She snarled, tears pricking her eyes. "I can't believe you're not going to c-come and see her before...before..."_

_Her Dad was silent for a moment; and when he spoke, he surprised his daughter. "Mavis, I can't go and say goodbye; I don't want to see her...so...so bad," He murmured softly. "I don't want the last thing I remember about her to be her at her worst... And I just can't make myself say goodbye, not so soon...not to someone else."_

_And that had been when Mavis understood - and it made sense to her. Even though she was still quite pissed off that Dracula wasn't going to be there, she knew that it must have been difficult on him in ways other than what she and Johnny were experiencing._

_"You'll tell her that I love her, won't you?"_

_Mavis wiped at her eyes. "Yes, of course, Dad."_

The memory was threatening to bring more tears to Mavis' eyes, so she focused on the present instead - although it was definitely no easier.

But how do you start a speech to say goodbye - or, rather, how do you stop rambling it once you start? It was impossible, it really was, so Mavis just looked at Lily and went with whatever came into her head when it came.

"Eighty five," She muttered. "That's... I don't know. I've never been human, so I don't know anything about whether that's a good or bad age to live until... I'm just glad that you got this long, considering how quickly you aged..."

That was when Lily started to smile, much to everyone's surprise; she opened her mouth and started to speak, further shocking them all. "I snuck out to that party, and you were angry at me," She said slowly, giving her mother a weak smile. "I remember that night...I don't know who you are, but I remember you being angry...at least, I think that was you..."

There was the old saying that when people were about to die, they had a few hours where they appeared almost normal and not sick at all - this was clearly what was going on with Lily. Mavis just smiled and reached out to take her daughter's wrinkled hand, knowing it would be her last chance to do it.

Lily looked around at everyone else and squinted slightly. "I remember you," She said to Johnny weakly. "I can just remember you holding my arm...or something like that...maybe a wedding day?...I really have no idea...I'm sorry, but..."

Johnny smiled tightly, hating how forced it was. "Uh huh, yeah...it was a wedding day."

The old human gave a small sigh and sat back on her pillows. "I can't remember," She whimpered sadly. "I...need sleep..."

And this would be it: everyone else in the room knew that this was the end...A sleep that would never end sounded like a peaceful way to go, and there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.

* * *

When Lily woke up, she was surrounded by a darkness - yes, a never-ending darkness. Hell, she wasn't standing or sitting or even lying down - she was just _there_ , as if floating. She couldn't remember much; she couldn't remember _anything_ , come to think about it.

Then a few lights flickered on and everything came flooding back to her: memories, scraps of information...it was all back with her instantly. She could remember! There was nothing clouding her mind or making her confused! That was when she looked down at herself and realized that something else had happened since she'd arrived in this weird place - she was _young_ again.

"It's so nice to finally get to meet you."

Lily's feet found ground suddenly, and she turned around to see who was talking to her; a tall and beautiful vampiress stood before her, a kind smile on her face. Her grey eyes had a somewhat sad look to them - but her smile was definitely genuine, and it immediately put Lily at ease.

And that was when it clicked.

"Are you...Grandma Martha?" She asked, stunned, and the woman nodded. "Oh my...Grandma!"

Without warning, she rushed forwards to envelope Martha in a hug; her grandmother laughed and returned the gesture, stroking some of her once-again red hair back. "I'm glad to see you too, Lily. I was wondering when you'd turn up."

All of a sudden, it occurred to Lily what had happened: her grandmother was dead and had been for hundreds of years...which must have meant...

"Have I died?" She asked, pulling back and looking up at Martha. "Did I...? I can't remember..."

For the first time, Martha's smile slipped and she gave a small nod. "I'm afraid so, sweetie."

"But...But...I don't remember getting that old!" Lily stated incredulously, suddenly terrified. "I can't be dead: I'm only...I mean, I was only...how old was I?"

Her Grandma sighed and pulled her in for another hug. "Eighty-five, honey...and you had this Alzheimer's disease...it made you forget everything, and you just became...a vegetable. I'm so sorry, Lily."

Lily sniffed, reaching up to wipe at her eyes. "S-So that's it? I-I'm dead? B-B-But what a-about my f-family? Lucy and J-Jack? Mina...I won't even see her turn a h-hundred and eighteen!" She began to cry, burying her face into Martha's chest. "Grandma...Damien and Sam...M-Mom and Dad...I didn't even get to say a proper g-g-g-goodbye! They won't know...how m-much I l-loved them..."

"They do know," Martha assured her soothingly, helping to wipe her tears away from her face. "They'll always know. I watched them saying goodbye to you while you were still with them: they're going to miss you _so_ much, Lily, but they know that you love them."

"But...But I was married!" Lily sobbed, shaking her head angrily. "We had Sam to take care of! I-I-I ca-can't just leave the-them, Grandma!"

For a moment the young vampiress was silent, waiting until her granddaughter had calmed down enough to listen until she spoke. "It's not easy," She admitted softly. "When I first got here...I wanted to go back: there was your Grandpa, and I couldn't just leave him...and then there was our baby." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Your Mom...I've been watching her since I got up here, and there isn't a day that goes by where I don't wish I could be down there with her. I miss her and your Grandpa so much..."

Lily looked up at Martha and realized she was right. "O-Oh..."

"But I've been lucky," Martha continued quietly. "I've watched them both grow since I left; I've seen my little girl grow up, get married...and then she had you, and your sisters and brother." She smiled to herself. "I'm never going to stop wishing I was still down there, Lily, but I've come to learn that we won't be separated forever."

The red-head looked up at her grandmother, her crying having stopped, with respect and curiousity. "You mean...they'll join us here, right? And then what?"

Martha gave a tiny smile and shrugged. "We can move on. That's what a lot of us do when we die: we wait for loved ones to rejoin us before moving on - where, no one knows until it happens...but it's definitely somewhere peaceful."

Lily closed her eyes and let the information sink in; as desperate as she was to see her family again one day, she was in no way hoping for them to die any time soon. "We can watch them from up here while we wait?"

"Of course."

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Okay. I suppose that's not too bad."

Martha tightened her arm around her and started to lead her towards another direction. "Come on; about a hundred or so years ago, a certain family of red-heads started to arrive up here - all but one of the sons, who it appears is now living as a vampire."

"My...other grandparents are up here too?" Lily asked in awe. "And my Dad's brothers?"

Her grandmother grinned. "I can't deny that it's been quite interesting to meet my in-laws - they're rather entertaining to be around, and it passes a great deal of time while we wait."

The two of them walked away through the lit up darkness, side-by-side and smiling brightly: death was not the end for either of them, but rather a new chapter. And, really, they had quite a lot of catching up to do to fill the time.


	14. Aftermath

And just like that, she had gone: disappeared, vanished...it was like the human named Lily had never existed.

There really is no way to describe the grief of losing a loved one; if you've never gone through this experience, then you can't possibly imagine what it was like for Lily's loved ones upon realizing that she'd passed away peacefully in her sleep.

None of them could quite bear the thought of cremating her - burning her and getting rid of every last part of her - so they buried her the night after her death in a clearing in the surrounding forest area. It was a small, private affair: besides immediate family (namely her parents, siblings and grandfather), the only other people in attendance were Damien and Sam.

Speeches were made; first Lily's sisters and brother, speaking together while holding hands for comfort as they remembered fond childhood memories and events.

"She was a persistent person," Jack muttered, looking down at the casket lying in the ground. "Once she wanted something, she never stopped until she got it... I remember it got to the point where I felt like the only way I'd get out of hearing her go and on and on would be to throttle her...but I never did that," He added carefully, not meeting Mavis' eyes. "Yeah, she was annoying but she's... _was_ my sister, so...s-so I guess I d-didn't care too much..." Jack paused for a moment, just to give himself some time to put his emotions in check before he continued speaking. "Lily was not perfect: she did stupid things and annoyed the crap out of everyone every so often. And while we're all thinking that we all loved her despite that, for me it was one of the reasons I loved her even more: I was always worried that, 'cause she was so small and a girl, people would walk all over her...but she wasn't that kind of person." He smiled sadly to himself. "Growing up she was sassy and smart and...well, we all know. She knew her own mind, and that was great: she knew what she wanted and she went for it... And then she got sick and..." He trailed off, ducking his head lower so that no one could see it. "I just hope wherever she i-is, she's not s-suffering."

Lucy put an arm around her brother and wiped at her eyes with the other hand. "I c-can't believe she's gone," She murmured in disbelief, shaking her head. "W-Well...I guess..." She took a deep breath as she prepared herself. "Okay. E-Eighty five years ago, I thought that when this d-day came I'd b-be looking back on _her_ growing up - and I am. But it's a-also made me think about how all of us...me, Jack and Mina...have grown too as people." Here Lucy wrapped her other arm around Mina and hugged her two remaining siblings tightly. "I mean, look at me for example: one of the first days we had her home, I spent most of my time worrying about meeting up with my boyfriend...I just thought I had plenty of time. But, really, no amount of time would have been enough." She swallowed the lump in her throat and held back her tears. "I still feel g-guilty thinking about it, t-that I d-didn't spend as m-much time as I could have with her. Back then, I wouldn't have wanted to hang out with a little sister, especially not a younger one...Now I'm older and I know for sure that if I could spend one more day with her - even a day when she was sick - that I would take it as fast as a bat flies." She bit her lip and sighed, closing her eyes so that she could hold back tears. "Mina, you c-can go."

Mina stepped forwards, breaking from the group, and looked around at everyone; even at a hundred and sixteen, she still had a look about her that made her appear rather young "I told this to Lily before...before she left," She started, holding her head up high: she refused to let her last words be ruined by having to trail off - she had to say what she needed to _now_ , while she still had the chance. "Until she came along, I was the baby of the family; while that's fun and all, I really did like bossing someone else around for a while...even if that was only for seven years. After that, I became the little sister again while she took over as being a 'big sister'; she dressed me up, played games with me, even gave me her clothes when she grew too old for them. While I still insisted that I was older and therefore in charge, I...I _did_ like her taking care of me after I took care of her. It seemed right, kinda like passing a torch or something." She looked down at the casket and felt her resolve start to crumble slowly. "The last time we had a proper conversation was before her...her Alzheimer's thing took over a few years ago, a-and I remember her promising that she'd stay long enough to see me turn a hundred and eighteen...b-but she h-hasn't. She won't see me grow up or anything, not like she's seen Lucy and Jack do." Mina wiped at her eyes and gave an angry sigh. "I promised her that I wouldn't cry at her funeral too...She told me that she didn't want me to! T-That I should focus on the fact th-that she _was_ here... That was the thing about Lily: she never seemed scared of dying, at least not as much as I thought she would. A-And do you wanna know what I learnt f-from her?"

No one said anything, instead just watching and listening intently.

"When I play with Charlie or Jess or even Sam now, I know not to take it for granted," She continued, suddenly feeling more confident in her words. "Lily would have done anything to see them grow up, but she never got the chance... So I feel like we owe it to her to make the most of everything in our l-lives: kids, love, everything you could p-possibly think of. Lily would have killed to still be able to see it, and a-as a sign of respect to her we should enjoy the rest of our own lives." Mina looked down at the coffin and reached down to put a hand on one of the small wreaths laying on top of it. "I'm g-going to m-miss her s-so much..."

Jack stepped forwards too and put a hand on his little sister's shoulder to pull her back; he looked at everyone else sadly. "D-Does anyone else w-want to say anything?"

Dracula looked at Mavis and Johnny, wanting nothing more than to envelope them both in a hug; he couldn't imagine what they were going through, and he thoroughly hoped that he'd have to experience his daughter dying before him. "Mavy? Do you want to say anything?"

"What's there to say, Dad?" Mavis said, trying to look anywhere but the coffin containing her daughter. "I...I just can't..."

Johnny wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin; the look that he sent to Dracula made it clear that he, too, had no words - they'd said their goodbyes to her, and were unable to face talking about it quite yet now that it had actually happened.

"Can...Can I say something?"

They all looked at Sam, who was standing beside Damien and tugging at the bottom of her black velvet dress nervously. Damien nudged her forwards with his hand, not even looking at her directly. "Go ahead."

Sam stepped forwards; she wasn't crying at that moment, but they all knew that she had done her crying in the privacy of her bedroom - she wasn't used to expressing feelings in public, clearly, so no one dared say anything.

"Okay, well..." She looked at the casket and faltered slightly. "I...I only knew Lily for twenty seven years - I know it's not as long as any of you have known her but...but I loved her too." Sam closed her eyes as she continued to speak. "She wasn't my Mom or Mommy or anything like that - but she was better than that to me. S-She was my f-friend, a-and I could tell her anything without worrying about her telling anyone; s-she made me feel s-safe, you know? I...I know that you might not agree, but I loved her just as much as any of you did as well."

"Of course you did," Damien agreed, voice tight as he put his hands on her shoulders. "And she loved you too, Sam."

Sam sent him a small attempt at a smile but ended up feeling worse, so she buried her face into his trousers so that no one could see that she was on the brink of crying.

"Do you want to say something?" Dracula asked Damien cautiously, voice soft. "She was your zing, after all."

The blonde man swallowed and gave a stiff nod. "Yeah, I guess I should." He looked down at the coffin and away again, unable to comprehend that the woman he'd loved - the one who he had had a once in a lifetime connection with - was inside of it and not breathing. "Lily was...She was _amazing_ , you know? She was gorgeous and...and smart...and she had that smile that just turned your day from bad to good in a second; she w-was fantastic, despite everything e-else going on...She never c-complained once a-about what she w-w-was going through, a-and she tried to keep positive." He glared down at the ground hard, choosing to focus on his shoes to try and get through this speech. "Before she got sick, s-she tried to tell me that I should find someone else after she left; like I would actually _want_ to find someone else after her. She was my zing - my one and only - and...and I know that I'll never love anyone l-l-like I loved Lily." He sniffed and wiped at his eyes using his jacket sleeve. "No, let me r-rephrase that: even though she's g-g-gone, I k-know that I'll always love Lily: none of us will stop just because...because..."

Dracula put a hand on his shoulder gently. "It's okay, Damien: she knows and she'll be right here-" He put his other hand over his heart as a closed fist. "-Just like so many of our loved ones are. Do not worry - we're all going to be here for each other, just like she would have wanted."

* * *

"Mom?"

"Hmm...?"

"What happened to Aunt Lily?"

Freddie looked between Lucy and their kids before intervening. "Guys-"

"No, it's fine," Lucy sighed, rubbing at her face; she then took a good look at her son and daughter before gesturing for them to join her on the couch. "You know how your Aunt Lily was sick? You couldn't see her because she was so bad?" Charlie nodded, already getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and Jess clutched at her brother's arm tightly. "The thing is-"

The phone in the hallway rang, cutting her off. Freddie stood up and hurriedly left the room to answer it so that she could continue her talk.

"Mommy?" Jess persisted when Lucy didn't continue. "Where's Auntie Lily?"

Charlie looked at his mother, and he knew: he was nearly sixty now, and while he seemed rather dim in some areas, it became apparent that this was not one of those areas. "Is she dead?"

Lucy bit her lip, pulling them both closer to her as she resisted crying again. "Yeah. She is."

Jess started to cry, burying her face in her big brother's shirt and clutching him tightly. "S-She's d-d-dead? Why is s-she dead, Mommy?! W-Why did she h-h-have to die?!"

Charlie also seemed to be keeping back tears - but he didn't last long, and also broke down seconds later. "Oh...Oh G-God...Mom, I-I-I...she...but..." Unable to find the words, he allowed Lucy to wrap her arm around him and pull him into her for comfort; he'd been quite close to Lily, thanks to all the time she'd spent with him, so it really was no surprise he was acting in such a way.

"Lucy?"

Lucy looked up and saw Freddie; he was holding the phone in one hand and biting his lip - and, judging by the look on his face, he wasn't bringing good news.

"It...It was your Mom and Dad on the phone," He stated, looking shocked and stunned.

"And?" She prompted, feeling rather sick; the last thing she needed was another family member disappearing from her life, and her thoughts immediately turned to her grandfather...sure, he was rather fit and stable, but who knew? "What's happened?"

Freddie looked at her sadly, hesitating to tell her in case it made matters worse - and of course it did. "It's about Damien. He killed himself last night."

* * *

Mavis was at a complete and utter loss at what she was meant to do now - it was bad enough losing a daughter, but to lose someone else (a son-in-law who she'd become quite fond of for that matter) in such a small amount of time was devastating.

From across the room, she watched Johnny trying to comfort Sam, who was struggling against him and crying heavily - and it was no mystery why. When Johnny and Mavis had received the phone call from her early that night, neither of them could have imagined what had happened.

" _J-Johnny? M-Mavis?...Oh G-God..."_

_"Hey, kiddo, it's Johnny: what's the matter, huh? Are you alright?"_

_"I...no...I...It's Damien! I...I couldn't find him, he wasn't in his room...s-s-so I went to look for him and...and...Oh God..."_

_Mavis took the phone from Johnny and listened hard to the other end of the line. "Sam, what's happened? Where's Damien now?"_

_Sam let out a choked sob from down the phone. "H-He went outside! I s-saw him! H-He's all burnt...he went outside during the day, a-and he's not waking up..."_

_Johnny heard this too and his eyes immediately widened. "Wait, what?!"_

_"Sam, just stay calm," Mavis instructed, hurrying to climb out of bed while Johnny did the same. "We're coming over, okay? Stay inside, a-a-and we'll b-be over real soon..."_

_"Yeah," Johnny agreed hurriedly, leaning closer to the phone so that she'd be able to hear him. "Everything'll be fine, okay?"_

_"B-But Damien...he won't wake up! I...I don't know what to do, a-and I'm s-scared..."_

_Mavis took a deep breath. "I know, sweetie, I know. Can you just hold on for five minutes? We'll come over, s-so you don't need to be scared..."_

After a very quick flight, Johnny and Mavis had seen what Sam had been talking about; they both saw from overhead that he'd been by Lily's grave in a clearing in the forest, and the Sun had obviously rose while he was there.

But Damien hadn't been stupid, they both knew that: he wouldn't have been caught out there by accident, and to add to that the house was only a five second run from the house - if he had wanted to get away, then he could have.

"Maybe...maybe he fell asleep?" Johnny suggested, looking rather ill. "He could have fallen asleep and just not realized..."

"No," Mavis disagreed, shaking her head. "Trust me, the burning would have woken him up no matter what."

Johnny looked at her for a moment, eyes growing sadder. "So...So he probably meant to do it?"

She sighed, closing her eyes for a few seconds. "Yeah. I think so."

And now, here they were: the Monster Council had been contacted by Dracula after they'd spoken to him over the phone (he knew what to do better than they did) and now it was a matter of waiting to see what happened.

"Sam," Johnny tried to say gently, trying to keep a firm hold on her but failing miserably. "I know this is scary and all, but you need to just sit down and talk to us, okay?"

Sam shook her head tearfully. "No! Where's Damien? Is he...you know? He won't wake up, Johnny, what am I meant to do?!"

"He's...everything will be fine," Johnny lied through his teeth. "Look, you just need to...to relax a little-"

"Relax? _Relax_?!" She snapped angrily, glaring at him. "Lily's dead, Damien's gone, and you want me to 'relax'?!" She pulled away from him and sat on the floor, curling up into a little ball. "Why does everyone I love leave me?! My Mom left me at the hotel, and then Lily died...and now Damien's dead too, isn't he?!"

Mavis and Johnny looked at each other uneasily, not quite sure what to do anymore.

"Just tell me!" Sam cried, tears starting to roll down her face. "He's dead: everyone I love is dead! I sh-shouldn't love people, because they a-always just die!"

Mavis sighed and moved to sit down next to her. "No, don't say that: it's just...it's very complicated, okay?" She put her arms around Sam in a motherly fashion. "I wish that I could tell you that everything will be fine, but...at the moment, it's not going to be that way." Mavis pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I know that you're scared, Sam, but we aren't going to leave you to face this alone."

A week ago, they had all known that they were losing a family member - none of them could have fathomed losing two.


	15. The Question of Raising Sam

"We are here to discuss the placement of the child Samantha Stoker after the death of both of her adoptive parents."

Mavis squirmed on her chair, eyes involuntarily training on Johnny; she'd never seen him look so pale in all of her life, or so worried for that matter. His eyes kept trailing to the door leading to the left; it had clear panels, which allowed them to keep an eye on a small blonde vampire girl wearing a beanie hat and staring at the floor morosely.

Another monster, this one a werewolf, cleared his throat. "As she no longer has a home, it is our responsibility to provide her with a new one which we believe to be the safest and happier alternative." He looked at the family in front of him pointedly. "Count Dracula, you have expressed an interest in speaking today - in homing her, if I'm correct. Would you like to speak?"

Dracula, looking strangely weak and small in his cloak, stood and bowed his head out of respect before starting. "If I may, Monster Council?" He cleared his throat. "This child - Samantha - is my...my great-granddaughter, and she has been for countless years since my...my granddaughter adopted her." His voice went quiet but he didn't stop to grieve through his thoughts. "I have grown to love her, and so I have a proposition for your Council today." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "My hotel is one of the safest places in the monster world - all of your most recent inspections have shown that, and we are developing ways of protecting our kind every day. What safer place to raise this child than in my hotel, surrounded by people that she actually knows?"

One of the few fly monsters on the panel looked vaguely unimpressed - the standard expression of the members of the council. "True - but taking care of a child so young would be difficult, Count, as is managing a hotel of your standard. Surely you must want to maintain all of your good work with the hotel?"

"I raised my daughter at the same time as running my hotel," Dracula stated firmly. "I managed to do both jobs to a high standard."

"Yes, but you were a much younger vampire then," The head yeti monster retorted, looking quite tired out already. "You are a grandfather, Count Dracula - in fact, you are a _great-_ grandfather now, and you are hardly in the prime of your life anymore." He sat back, shaking his head to himself. "Besides, this child is not your own - she has no parents, and so she is _our_ concern. Your daughter may have lost a mother, but since you were still available - as her biological father, might I add - we had no reason to become involved with your case even if we had wanted to."

Dracula fell silent at this, and Mavis couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted at the blunt words used.

"Does anybody else want to speak?" The fly asked, surveying the group in front of him: it only consisted of those close to Lily, so it was Dracula, Mavis, Johnny, Lucy, Freddie, and Jack. Mina, of course, was only a hundred and sixteen and therefore not allowed into the court room - she was not of legal age yet, so she was sat outside with Sam while the hearing took place. "Anybody at all?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Mavis saw Johnny shakily raise his hand.

"Uhh..." He blanched slightly when they all stared at him seriously, trying to remember his words. "I...I think I could...well, if Mavis agrees, I guess. I mean, she's kinda like our granddaughter, right? A-And we'd do anything for her." He sent his wife a look, and she immediately nodded. "Yeah," He continued, now more confident. "We raised four kids already, and they all turned out pretty good - what's one more?"

The yeti raised a brow. "Jonathan, is it? It's not merely a case of _wanting_ and _thinking_ you could: this is a child who needs to be in the best care possible for her."

Johnny shrugged slightly and took a deep breath. "Yeah, and we totally would," He amended calmly. "We raised _four_ kids, man, and they're all happy and normal - she'd be exactly the same."

"Besides," Lucy interjected from the seat to his left. "She knows us - it would surely be better to place her with people she already knows, so that she won't freak out or anything."

A monster that looked like a cross between a dragon and an iguana leaned in to the yeti monster. "Bear in mind, sir," He muttered slyly. "That she is a woman, and we know that this is clearly an emotional time-"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" Lucy snapped. "I'm not deaf or incompetent, you know! And so what if I am a woman? I still know what I think is best for her, no matter what I've got between my legs!"

 _Oh wow._ Mavis resisted the urge to face-palm herself, wondering where on earth this blunt comment had come from, and Johnny looked rather like he was trying not to faint at the mention of ladies' private parts.

"I knew my sister," She continued. "And I know that she would have wanted either our parents to look after Sam or Grandpa Dracula: they've all had experience with kids her age, they know what to expect, and it's what _Lily_ would have wanted. Surely it would make sense to honour her and do what she would have wanted?!"

The dragon-iguana monster glared at her. " _You_ do not get to make that decision!" He hissed. "You have no idea how the world works!" _  
_

"Because I'm a woman?" Lucy seethed hotly, and she stood up from her seat. "Go on, lizard-boy: try me! I know _way_ more about how the _real_ world works than any of you fancy-shmancy council members do!"

Mavis saw Freddie bite his lip - they both knew better than most not to mess with her or interrupt when she was in this kind of mood. Then again, if she didn't watch what she was saying, she'd probably end up getting kicked out of the hearing or something, something that they definitely didn't need.

Jack cleared his throat and reached to touch his older sister's shoulder. "Lu-

"-A week ago, I lost my little sister!" Lucy shot at them angrily, tears glistening in her eyes. "My _little_ sister! I had to watch her shrivel up and die before a hundred years was even up - I've had to watch her become a vegetable for the past five years because she couldn't remember a goddamn thing! Trust me, I know how the real world works!"

None of the council members said a word to this. The only noise was Jack letting out a choked noise and the scraping of his chair as he abruptly stood up to leave through the door. "I...I can't..."

Johnny and Mavis watched him: he really was taking this harder than they'd expected...then again, how could you possibly but an estimate on how much a young man will miss his sister?

"She would have wanted Mom and Dad to look after Sam," Lucy continued, voice quietening a little - not a lot, but a little. "And if they can't, then she would have said Grandpa."

The yeti monster finally held up a hand to stop her. "Thank You, Madam. That is enough." He looked down at his paper notes for a few moments and gave a heavy sigh. "Alright then. Does anyone else want to make their opinion known before we make our decision?"

There was a long uncomfortable silence where no one said a word.

"Very well then," The yeti announced, picking up his papers. "Hopefully we have enough notes to-"

"I'lldoit!"

Everyone in the room turned to stare at the person who had just spoken: not a single person in the room didn't feel some form of shock when they realized it was none other than Freddie of all people.

"I will do it," He repeated, voice slightly edgy but nonetheless serious. "I mean, if Johnny and Mavis or Dracula can't, then I want to do it. I mean, I know that Lucy and I already have kids - and they're totally great - but Sam is technically our niece through Lily, right? She's family." He looked out through the glass-panelled doors at Sam and straightened up. "My parents died when I was a kid too, and my uncle got to raise me. If he hadn't been allowed, then who knows what would have happened? I mean, I wouldn't know anything about them or...or anything." He took a deep breath. "If Lucy agrees, then we'll look after her, like she's ours."

Lucy, still surprised by his outburst, started to nod quickly. "Of course we'd do it."

"Or...Or maybe we wouldn't have to look after her all of the time," Freddie continued. "I mean, we could share custody with Johnny and Mavis if they wanted."

The yeti seemed to consider this alternative. "I see...a shared load, as they say...And you live short distances from each other, don't you? So there would be no long journeys or the like to throw her off course..."

The lizard-dragon monster hissed again. "You are not considering it?! The...Sir, Mr Black is nothing more than a _boy_!"

"Actually, I'm two hundred and fifteen," Freddie disagreed coldly. "I'm married and we have kids - I'm not a 'boy'."

 _That is the meanest I have seen this kid_ , Johnny mused half-heartedly. _Kinda refreshing to see him kick some ass finally._ As if reading his mind, Mavis looked at him and gave a small smile - clearly she'd been thinking the same thing.

The yeti seemed to disregard the last exchange, although he did look faintly amused himself, and cleared his throat. "Thank you for sharing your opinion, Mr Black - we will take it into consideration. Now, if you'll all please wait here for a few moments while we retire to the room behind us-" Here he gestured to where a door behind them lead. "-while we make our final decision."

* * *

Sam was just plain miserable and depressed with life: within the last seven days she had lost both of her parental figures to death, been taken away from the only other people in the world she felt comfortable around and was facing the great unknown of not knowing what was going to happen to her next.

_Care? A home? An orphanage? What if no one wants me in the end - do they burn monsters that don't fit in with everyone else?_

Jack and Mina were sat on either side of her as they waited; at first they had each tried to take her hand, but she had been so upset and engrossed in her own mind that she hadn't responded at all.

The truth was that Sam didn't want their comfort right now - she wanted to hear Damien's voice telling her it would be okay, and Lily's arms wrapped around her securely. Hell, she would even take the Lily that had Alzheimers - the one that she had actually found scary and terrifying - if it meant that she could hear their voices again, see them one more time...to be home.

But life sucked, especially for her at that moment, and she was a girl without a home.

"Everything will be fine," Mina repeated for what felt like the one hundredth time that night. "Right, Jack?"

Jack gave a mumble. "I s'pose. I dunno, Mina..." He sighed and heaved himself up so that he was no longer slouching before peering through the glass panels on the door. "Hmm. I think it's done: the council probably went to a private room or something."

Sam felt all of the air in the world leave her - this was it, the moment that she just knew, judging by her luck in recent years, her life was going to crumble. Yes, she would probably go to an orphanage or something, but definitely not somewhere that she could consider a home.

This time she couldn't stop the tears from coming, or her arms tightening around Jack and Mina for what could potentially be the last time ever after this verdict was announced.

"Ah crap," Jack muttered, and his eyes widened as he tucked one arm around Sam's shoulders. "Mina...the council have all come back in."

The way that Sam understood this: they've made their decision. She was fair game now.

Mina bit her lip, grip tightening on Sam's hands. "And? Can you tell what they're saying from here?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm no good at lip-reading...anyway, these doors are probably really soundproof - after all, they'd need to keep details of meetings secret from people passing by, wouldn't they?"

"Well, how does everyone look in there? Happy? Sad? Pi- Angry?"

Jack squinted and then let out an annoyed grunt. "No! God's sake, they're all just looking serious and...and, goddamit, how do they all have a poker face on right now? Seriously, not one of them is gonna react to it?!"

Sam didn't bother asking what a 'poker face' was, but she knew that it was probably to do with the looks on everyone's faces or something - and it didn't appear to be looking good at that moment. "What does that mean for me?"

Mina leaned over to look through the glass, and her hands suddenly let go of Sam's. "They're coming out, Jack...oh God, I've never been this nervous in my life, what if-"

"Stop it, Mina! We don't know that!"

Sam blocked out the sounds of their mini-argument on the matter and instead focused on the adults coming through the door to greet them; none of them looked happy, and her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach.

She wasn't going with them, she could tell.

"So?" Jack and Mina demanded, Jack a semi-second before Mina, and they both stood up.

Dracula let out a few sigh and nodded to Johnny to deliver the news to them. Looking rather exhausted and pale, Johnny shuffled forwards - and then he smiled. "She's coming with us, guys."

* * *

By 'us', as Sam soon learnt, he had meant he and Mavis - apparently, the council had ultimately reached the decision that a couple who weren't quite _old_ yet and had no kids to take care of currently (but had plenty of experience doing so) was the best option.

Sam couldn't have agreed more, and she found herself yelling happily as she threw herself at Johnny and Mavis happily. They weren't Lily and Damien, she knew that, and she wasn't like a replacement child for them just like they weren't replacement parents or guardians for her - but they were Johnny and Mavis, people who had been closely connected to her previous guardians, people who she had known for a long time and trusted.

Maybe her luck was about to change - and finally for the better.


End file.
